Couldn't Get Away
by EricIzMine
Summary: EPOV 'What if' AU... After what happened in Jackson (CD) who could blame Sookie for trying to escape from the hassles and drama of being known by the Supe communities of three states. Unfortunately, her exit was as well thought out as she hoped. Couldn't Get Away is part of the MultiVerse. Bored To Death and Meanwhile are prerequisites.
1. Chapter 1

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 1**

**Dear John**

_****Shreveport****_

Ever since Sookie walked into Fangtasia in her sinfully, deliciously tight little sundress, my existence had improved.

Of course, Pam had something to entertain herself with, teasing me for my interest in the little telepath…

But I'd found something fun to do. Pursuing Sookie Stackhouse had become my favorite sport.

A masochistic endeavor since that Human could deliver blue balls with unparalleled accuracy.

Her silly little notions of devotion to that arrogant tool Compton only gave me the collateral enjoyment of knowing she was inching away from him and towards me…

Well… that could've been said right up to the point of returning to Bon Temps from Jackson. Seeing Compton get uninvited from her home was no shock to anyone since he'd savagely raped her to repay the favor of saving his pathetic 'life'. Getting my own un-invitation was another matter entirely…

One that I forgave her for before my feet were on her porch. Thanks to Compton, Ball, Pelt, Newlin and the Wolves of the Jackson Pack, Sookie had more than enough reason to be frazzled…

And truth be told… I hadn't been the same since she said she trusted me.

In the six days since we'd been back in my Area, I'd left two messages to check on her condition and sent flowers. In the interest of giving her time to recuperate, I hadn't been back to Bon Temps to check on her personally. I might have done more in spite of that, but I was busy cleaning up the mess from being out of town. Not only had I been dressed down by the Queen for not telling her Compton was missing, but Compton's Maker had spies in Fangtasia… Pam and I had bodies to hide.

I'd taken my time leaving my house since business would be sluggish the night after Christmas. I'd considered taking the drive out to Bon Temps to see Sookie in person since she hadn't returned any of my phone calls, but somehow I managed to refrain. That didn't mean that I wouldn't end up paying a visit later, but since there was such a profound peace to her mood, I assumed she was resting.

Her emotions had been meditative for me since we'd gone to Dallas. Any time I was bored I'd focus on Sookie. Where she was, her physical and emotional state… Pam had caught me doing it enough times that I didn't care anymore. She'd started calling me a 'couch potato' because I could ignore anything when the 'Sookie Show' was playing.

I was sifting through a pile of mail, not even in my seat yet, when Pam entered my office.

"You're late tonight. Anything wrong?"

"No. We've been doing this long enough to know that brothels aren't even busy the night after Christmas... _You look stunning_." She was wearing one of the many staged costumes that she usually wore at the bar, but she'd snuck some of her Christmas gifts into the ensemble as accessories… namely the jeweled Louboutin slingbacks and black diamond choker. If I hadn't said something, she'd have pouted.

"I know. We have a bit of a situation in the bar."

"Has Ginger's head caved in?"

"Still waiting for that… Compton is here with Sookie's brother."

"He's giving her some time off and raping Jason in the interim. How sweet. Who says the spirit of Christmas is lost?"

She chuckled, "I don't know why they're here. Bill insists on seeing you and every time Stackhouse opens that precious little mouth of his, Mr. Mainstreaming shushes him."

"Jason is not the Stackhouse I want to see."

"Speak for yourself. He's… _alluring_. Shall I show them back?"

"By all means… and yes, you can fuck with Bill before you do…"

She hummed Here Comes Santa Claus on her way out and I opened the only piece of mail that wasn't a bill or invoice…

I chuckled as she offered Bill a True Blood so that he wouldn't rape anyone and blame starvation later, but as soon as I saw the scrawled greeting of the letter, "_Dear Eric_," I wasn't interested in anything else.

"_I'm sorry that it has to be this way, but you know better than anyone else what I've been through in the past couple of months. I need to get out while I still can. This cat's running out of lives and the people I love keep getting hurt. I know I agreed to read minds for you, but let's face it, you've done just fine all this time without a telepath. You don't need me around, especially when I'm a trouble magnet. I haven't told anywhere where I'm going. I'm about to write a letter like this to my brother too. I just want to live my life in peace. I can't really handle any more funerals._

_I guess I'm writing to you for 2 reasons. _

_The first, I'm sure Bill's going to accuse you of doing something to me so I figure if he tries to tattle, you'll have this. That's why it's notarized._

_Most importantly, I don't want you to think I'm not grateful. I can spare you details, but you've done plenty for me. You've saved my life and 'Thank You' doesn't cover how much I appreciate what you've done to help me when I needed it._

_Truly,_

_Sookie"_

I flipped the page over, hoping for more even though what she'd written hadn't taken the whole page… looking at the postmark to see that she'd mailed it from Bon Temps on the 23rd…

Re-reading it… and letting alarm set in before I realized that I had company.

Without making her ask, I passed the 'Dear John' to Pam to solve her curiosity and sat back to hold the arms of my chair… If I didn't, I was going to rip Compton's head from his shoulders… Dallas was my fault because I never should have offered Sookie's services, but everything else she was running from had been his doing.

"Say what you need to say, Compton. I want you the fuck out of my office as soon as possible."

He narrowed his already beady eyes at me. "Is that because you need to go to Sookie? What have you done with her?"

"Me?"

"Jason received a letter from Sookie today. She claims to be moving, relocating on a whim. That isn't like her. We want to know what you've done with her."

"The same could be said of you. Why assume I had anything to do with it?"

"Because I obviously don't have her. Who else…?"

"_**Do you think I have her in my pocket!?**_ Compton, if you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd still be too daft to think your way out of a wet paper bag. Don't waste my time playing Sherlock when you don't rate as a sidekick… If I had Sookie as you suggest, I wouldn't be here."

"You know where she is."

"You know **NOTHING**… I'm assuming you weren't sent a goodbye letter."

"No…"

"This proves how stupid you are. If I had taken Sookie for my own purposes and forced her to pen farewell addresses, yours would be the first one drafted."

"You were sent a letter?"

"Yes."

"I need to read it."

"No. You don't. _**You need**_ to do the world a favor and end yourself. You're the bulk of her reasons to leave."

"I. Love. Sookie. I've…" I'd had as much of his professed love for her as I could take.

"You've what? You publicized your relationship with her until her grandmother was murdered for being associated with you? Yes... You left her alone to be attacked by a Maenad? Check... You let her go to the church and be taken captive by fundamentalists? Affirmative… You left the scene of a firefight without checking on her wellbeing? Without remorse… You needed her to rescue you from your own Maker? A task she underwent while recovering from being staked only so you could nearly kill her in the process of raping her? Definitely... _You did all that_. You're such a fucking romantic that you make me sick. I'm sure you do think she should feel lucky to have you. Meanwhile, YOU are the one who didn't get a goodbye. Go fuck yourself."

Jason shook his head and looked at Bill. "You raped my sister?"

Bill leaned away and huffed, "It wasn't that simple. I couldn't control myself."

"Right… you could've tried a better excuse, asshole. Fuck… '_the devil made me do it'_ ain't gonna work…" Good for him. "Eric, right?"

I nodded. "Eric Northman. I'd just opened my letter from Sookie while I was waiting for Pam to show you back. She explained that she was leaving and said that she wasn't telling anyone about her destination."

He nodded and sat forward to hold out an envelope. "I got mine when I got home from work. She left everything, even her car, behind. I called Sam, her boss, and she didn't even quit first."

I took the letter from him and motioned for Pam to let him see the one I was sent. Without prompting, she stood between the chairs so Bill wouldn't be able to read mine.

"_Big Brother, _

_I'm sorry to leave like this. I love you and I wouldn't take off if I didn't feel like I have to. You were right, Jason. Being with Bill is what got Gran killed. I can't forgive myself for being so stupid. Now that so many people know about me being a telepath, it seems like I'm not ever going to get any peace. And it's not Vampires, Jason. Don't go hating on all of them because I left. I have Humans after me too. One Vampire has seriously put his ass on the line to look out for me whenever he could. If things keep going at the rate they are, the attention I'm getting because of my telepathy is going to get everyone hurt. I don't want that. Do not look for me. I'll get in touch when I can. Maybe I'll come home eventually, but I don't want anyone else I love getting hurt because of me and what I can do. I know you're going to be mad at me for leaving, but this isn't new. Mind reading has been making life difficult for you since we were little too._

_I know you can't afford to keep both houses, so do what you need to do. I understand. _

_I'll miss you more than you realize, but you're all I have left and I'll be damned if I have to bury you like Gran._

_I love you, brother._

_Sookie"_

Since Jason took his time, I had the chance to read the letter several times and confirm that she'd mailed them both on the 23rd from the same zip code.

When he was done he handed my letter back to Pam and took his from me. "What was that thing at the bottom? Mine didn't have one."

"That was the notary seal she mentioned so that Bill couldn't accuse me of harming her. The notary can corroborate that your sister was the one to sign it."

He nodded. "Smart… _but that's Sook_."

"She mailed our letters on the 23rd. Did you not see her for Christmas?"

"She made dinner last night… we gave each other gifts and we went to Gran's grave… She started crying, but I thought… you know, since it's the first Christmas and all..." If she was still in Bon Temps yesterday, that meant I had a better timeframe… Airport and bus station security footage could tell me which plane or bus she'd boarded... Jason looked like he was close to crying for a moment before he seemed to shake it off. "She said she might come back though… so… I guess I can keep my fingers crossed."

"She did… she also mentioned that she'd understand if you couldn't keep her house. Let me know if you need help. She'll need a house to come home to."

"You mean, like… you wanna buy it?"

"No. If I buy it, Vampires could get in and she wouldn't be able to uninvite them. I'll give you the money to pay for it because you're Human."

"Oh… is… can Bill get in any trouble for what he did to Sook?"

I shook my head. "Sadly, no. She was claiming to be his at the time. When he told her to claim to be his to protect herself from other Vampires, he failed to mention that it allowed him to treat her like a slave. However… Bill, you can get the fuck out of my Area…"

He stood up, shoving his chair back and looming over my desk in a laughable attempt to intimidate me. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT…!"

"I have every right, as Sheriff of Area 5, to eject unruly cocksuckers. The only reason I didn't drive you out like cattle earlier has left the Area. You aren't welcome here and the next time I lay eyes on you, you won't walk away from the encounter. One week."

"I own property here!"

"I own property in several places. Get the fuck over yourself and get out of my Area… And before you make the threat to contact Sophie-Ann about how I'm picking on _poor, innocent Bill_, keep in mind that I'm prepared to tell the Queen that you scared away an asset with unlimited potential by raping and draining her… I have witnesses to what you did in Jackson."

"How do you think that'll look? You didn't declare her."

"Why would I? You told me that you informed the Queen of Area 5's telepath when you left her defenseless while Lanier was at large to vie for the position of Investigator." I'd been waiting to use that for more than a month. Who the fuck leaves someone they 'love' when it's public knowledge there is a serial killer after them? Lies and alibis were not his forte.

"I. Did. Not!" _But he couldn't prove it._

Pam snorted, "You did. I was there. You told us the Queen was intrigued by Sookie's ability and anxious for the opportunity to see her in action."

"You lying bitch!"

She shrugged. "You told us that your official post was granted to you so the Sheriff wouldn't have to neglect his duties to keep her safe and you were the obvious choice given her personal relationship with you… Eric, I'm not remembering it wrong, am I?" There was a very good reason Pam always got everything she asked for. Spoiled and appreciated had become synonymous when it came to her.

"No, Pam. That's exactly how I remember it."

She nodded. "He was wearing one of his silly Arnold Palmer outfits and his bangs were floppy... They're still out of style, Bill. You could be on anti-douchebag propaganda posters." Jason chuckled.

I offered, "There you go, Bill. Since you were so wise as to garner an official title, I had fair reason to believe you were appointed as Sookie's handler and had been in contact with the Queen all along. You're overreaching… I'm sure you inherited that from your Maker. You've tried my patience. Now you have 3 nights. Leave. You have packing to do… I'm extending my protection to Jason Stackhouse. If you try to bait Sookie into coming home by hurting him in any way, I'll torture you until they're old and gray."

He seethed in my direction, probably feeling sorry for himself, before finally realizing he wasn't going to win the staring game and darted out of my office.

Pam blubbered, "Poor Beehl. Hims doesn't wike bein' a woozer."

Jason waited for a moment, but finally blurted, "I kind of get it."

I was willing to play along. "Get what?"

"Why she left. I mean… I feel real bad about blowin' up on her when Gran died… when I got the letter, I was pissed, worried… I didn't know what all she been through. I'ma miss her and all… but… why stay when you got that track record? You pissed?" Hurt.

"Worried. Even if she's leery of Vampires now, she could still be rediscovered."

He nodded. "Yeah… got me there. Are you the one? The one that watched out for her? I mean, you're the only other letter I know about… and she thanked you."

"I think I am."

"You think if something happens, she'd get in touch? Like, cuz you watched out for her before… if she's in trouble?"

"I hope so."

"K… um… if she does. Tell her I love her… let me know she's still alive. K?"

"I will." She _**was**_ still alive. She was alive and still sleeping as far as I could tell. Not so far away that I couldn't feel her even though we weren't bonded. Since she couldn't have been traveling for a whole day, she might have been laid over or… if I was fool enough to believe it, she just hadn't wanted to go too far away. Florida maybe? If I could feel her strongly enough to have a guess, then she wasn't far enough away to evade Bill's 'love'.

"I'll let you know if I hear from her… I guess between us, you got danger and I got homesickness… those'd be her reasons to get in touch, right?"

"I think that covers the best reasons she'd have." She should've come to me. She should've come to me because I could've helped her. She'd need money to start over. She'd need identification because Sookie and Stackhouse would stand out like a sore thumb in a phonebook.

"Alright…" Sookie's brother stood up and lingered awkwardly for a moment. "I… I guess I'll head out… if she gets in touch with me first, want me to tell her anything?"

I nodded. "Anything she needs. No questions asked."

He looked like an idiot when he grinned. "You got it… and uh… just cuz you seem kinda hard to fuck Bill up, I'ma let e'erbody in town know to call ya if they see him 'round… you know, cuz you looked out for Sookie. _Thanks_."

Pam slumped onto the sofa after closing the door behind Jason. "I guess she's justified…"

"Justified, yes… _and half cocked_. How well could she have planned an exit in less than a week? How much of her paycheck from Dallas could she possibly have left?"

"You call _**me**_ impetuous… She wins."

"What's her prize, Pam?"

"What difference does it make?"

"What difference? Are you serious? Do you think Sophie-Ann is going to ignore that something like a telepath got away from her? Do you think that with all of the spies there are, every Vampire in the States won't be watching, waiting to claim their reward. And when she's found, she's not going to be bountied. She's going to be sold to the highest bidder."

"It doesn't make a difference because you're going to do your best to find her and use her as your excuse to retire…" She said it like she had a crystal ball.

"Because that's exactly what she wants. She proved how much she wants to be stalked by running away."

"Pssh… She didn't run away from you, you big baby. She ran away from being battered and raped. Track her down. If you have to tell yourself it's so Compton doesn't find her first, then go with that… but you know you want to go after her. I felt that lump in your throat when you read her letter."

"How do you propose I find her, Pam? She disappeared on one of the biggest traveling days of the year. Everyone on the security cameras at the airport and bus station will be wearing dark, heavy clothing because it's December. She'll blend in."

"North, south, east, west?"

I growled. "South east, I think… Florida, maybe…"

"So I'll go to the airport and watch footage. You make arrangements to fly to Florida. She had your blood last week so you'll be able to zero in on her. I'll call you if I find anything."

"Why are you being so cooperative?"

"Because it's more amusing to make fun of you for pining when she's just out of reach. Her leaving takes the thrill out of it." I'd only asked hoping I hadn't already guessed.

"Beautiful."

"Don't be a dickhead about it. She has her moments. She's fun for the whole family."

I needed access to her bank records.

I needed access to her phone records.

I wasn't going to get any of it.

I called 8 cab companies before any of them would even think about going out to Bon Temps for a fare and 3 more before I had any information of value… At 3:09am, a driver started his meter at 200 Hummingbird Lane and delivered his fare to the Delta terminal at the Airport at 3:51.

Having exact times made things seem a little less desperate.

Unfortunately, a man with an 'old school southern' accent had already called to ask the same questions. We were running out of time if I was going to find her before Bill did.

I'd just hung up from giving news to Pam when the back door to the bar opened…

Only a moment later a familiar face appeared, peeking into my office.

Sookie.

Instead of asking why she came back, if she'd reconsidered, if she'd only forgotten something, if she needed something, I left my seat.

Without caring how she'd so cleverly fooled me, _my blood_ into thinking she was miles away… if I was fooled, Compton would be too.

It might've only taken me half of a second to reach her and for some reason, when she didn't startle but grin, I forgot myself…

She grunted when I kissed her, not resisting as much as trying to speak while my tongue was in her mouth… but she didn't just give in. She pushed, kissing me back…

She fisted her hands into my hair, wrapped her legs around me when I lifted her…

If she'd kissed me the same way when I'd gone to the 'orgy' with her, we'd have missed the Maenad's finale.

She was already pushing the limits of her breathing when I smelled Compton.

When her breath got away from her I let her use my hair to pull our faces apart…

But I didn't want to let her legs fall away from me just yet…

"We need to talk, Eric."

I nodded. "We do. I've been trying to track you down... Why did you see Compton first?"

She gave me a puzzled look. "Track me down?"

I wasn't interested in games. "Why did you see Compton first?"

"I didn't see him like _seek him out_… I was on my way to my car and the prick grabbed me."

"He was looking for you too. _He 'loves' you_."

She snorted and when she tried to put her feet down again, I let her. "Now he's a landscaping problem. Hope you don't mind."

"Landscaping?"

She widened her eyes coyly. "Did you know that a hydrangea branch counts as a stake? I didn't."

"You ended Compton?"

She sighed and sauntered into my office to lounge in my chair. "It needed to be done and judging by the way he was talking to me, Your Sookie wasn't going to do it anytime soon."

"My Sookie?"

She tilted her head to the side. "Mmmmm. Yes, _Your_ Sookie. I'm not yours…"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes, I know. Sookie Stackhouse is her own…"

She giggled, "Shut up… I need to explain what's going on."

I growled and joined her, lifting her and putting her on my lap. I had to hide how surprised I was that Sookie didn't refuse to cooperate. "Please do because right now, your letter just seems cruel. Your brother is beside himself and…" I detested the idea of never seeing her again.

She shook her head, confused again. "What letter, Eric?"

I picked it up from my desk to remind her of it. "You've run away from home and changed your name… you mailed the letters a couple of days ago and had a cab take you to the airport this morning."

She snatched the letter out of my hand as she gasped, "What? Where did I go?"

"My lap."

"Seriously…" She scowled at the letter while she read it. Then went over it again… _She hadn't been the one to send it._ "Why did she leave? What was the last thing that happened?"

"Sookie, you know…"

"No. Stop. In the interest of saving time, pretend I have amnesia or some shit. I'll explain my part later. Why would I leave?"

"You and your loved ones had been victimized enough for your tastes…"

"Details. Did I date Bill?"

"Unfortunately."

"Ew… Did I help Salome at her casino?"

"Where did you hear about Salome?"

"I'll take that as a no… Did Cleo bring me her Machiavellian day guy?"

"I'm assuming you know all the Sheriffs of Louisiana on a first name basis."

"Yes, but I only married one. Did Gervaise resign and leave room for Sophie-Ann to appoint Tilda?"

"Tilda? Wait, _who the fuck did you marry?_" I grabbed her hand to inspect the rings I'd thought were costume jewelry.

"Eric. I'm not _Your_ Sookie. I belong to another version of You. I went to sleep next to My Eric and woke up in Your Sookie's house out in Bon Temps. I took a shower and raided her closet. When I couldn't find any cash, I took her car keys. Compton snuck up on me as I was leaving and since he's a continuing theme, I staked him and hauled ass to Our house. You weren't there so I tried here. Now, I'm explaining the clusterfuck that it is to be bonded to a Mero-Faerie because this overlapping shit happens. Right now Your Sookie is probably enjoying being in bed with My Eric, My Husband."

"You're claiming to be bonded and married to me? Sookie… _did you hit your head?_"

"No… This hasn't been a problem for a while because we started carrying memory cards in our wallets so that we had ready proof… but I forgot it. Ask me something. Quiz me on something I shouldn't know about you." That wouldn't prove that she couldn't read Vampire minds.

"I'm not sure I like this game."

"Ok… then help me out. Did I help Stan find Farrell?"

"Yes."

"Ok… did Alcide and I go up to Tulsa?"

"Why the fuck would I let you go anywhere with Herveaux if we're married?"

"Long story, but the Packmaster up there wanted to make sure there were actual Wolf sightings. There wasn't… Ummm… OH! You know who Alcide is, so how is that?"

"His father owed me a small fortune so when you went to look for Compton, I leveraged Alcide to take you. I didn't want you to be unguarded and I couldn't be in Jackson officially without raising eyebrows."

"When was this?"

"Last week."

"And I'm suddenly off the reservation… What happened?"

"You went to find Compton because he'd vanished. Herveaux took you. Herveaux's ex accosted you, you were staked by Steve Newlin, it took an effort, but you were healed enough to free Compton and end his Maker…"

"Oh shit… and then Sookie got locked in the trunk of a car and raped by Bill… then got her ass beaten when you got her home…" At least she was 'remembering' some details.

"I don't like that you're talking about yourself in the third person."

"I'm not… Hey… Does Sophie-Ann have a baby named Hadley?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Then she can back me up…"

She lifted the receiver of my desk phone… I couldn't take my eyes from her rings as she dialed.

"Sookie, I just had to explain Vampire political structures to you before you left for Jackson. How do you know… everything? Have you started hearing our thoughts?"

Sookie was shaking her head as the familiar voice answered, but I needed more than a 'hello' to know who it was for sure.

"Hello Majesty. I know we haven't met in person, but this is Sookie Stackhouse." No! Nononononono… I reached for the phone, to take it away from her and apologize to the Queen for the interruption, but all it took for Sookie to stop me was putting her finger to my lips.

"Sookie. I'm surprised to hear from you." What the fuck?

"I'm having a bit of a problem and I was hoping you wouldn't mind helping me out."

"I'm listening."

"I'm _confused_."

"You are?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm here with the Sheriff, but My Eric and His Sookie have yet to surface and he's very concerned for my mental state. You wouldn't by chance be willing to vouch for my sanity, would you?"

"Which one are you, dear?" No possible fucking way. _Which one?_

"We've color coded our journals, Majesty. I'm August, peridot. And you?"

"Peonies… Do you have anything helpful for me?"

"I'm at a bit of a loss since I'm without our journal. If you have Hadley… do you know that Waldo is a concern as far as her safety is concerned?" Sookie knew who Waldo was.

"Yes."

"And that Threadgill has spies in your palace?" She'd heard of Threadgill.

"I didn't know that for sure."

"Yes ma'am… most of your donor pool is tainted by Arkansas or the Church… In more than a couple of versions, negotiations with Wallace Milne went very well." Texas as well?

"Did they?"

"I danced at your wedding. Once we've reunited with our actual partners, I'll see to it that My Eric leaves a copy of his journal here if his came with him. Either way, we'll make sure you get notes."

"Thank you, Sookie… Northman, you're listening?"

I was close to choking on my tongue, but, "Yes Majesty."

"Sookie is quite sound. She'll explain in depth. Stackhouses have a tendency to make things interesting. Goodnight."

Sookie adjusted, but didn't leave my lap as she put the receiver in the cradle. "Ok. I'm Hadley's cousin. We've got a Faerie in our woodpile and something about us makes this happen. We call it skipping. We're kind of stuck just rolling with it. Sophie-Ann and Hadley have been doing it for almost 4 years now. We wake up in a weird place and run into another version of reality… I think you match up pretty well with one of the other versions we've run into a few times… I'm going to test that by asking what you were doing when you met Sookie."

"When I first saw you or when we were introduced?"

"When you first laid eyes on me."

"You were with Compton. You'd come here to ask about fangbangers."

She nodded knowingly. "And you met Sookie on the stage area, but your conversation was cut short by a police raid."

"Yes. Is that different from how you met me?"

"In my version, you brought a fangbanger back to your office for a blow job. You were still back here when Bill and I arrived… when I started asking questions, Pam jerked a knot in my ass and brought me back here. Meeting my Eric went much smoother and thanks to that sundress I was wearing, he volunteered to help me clear Jason."

"I would've agreed to anything that sundress asked of me too."

She giggled. "I still bring it out to play once in a while… now… we need to find Your Sookie and My Eric. They're probably together. Can you think of somewhere she'd have gone?" Why the fuck was I believing this?

"No. I'm at a loss. I need phone records or bank information… I don't have access…" It could take several nights for me to find anything on my own since I wasn't willing to expose her location by outsourcing.

Sookie smirked and turned to my computer. She quickly logged in to her bank account to see a zero balance, but before there was a withdrawal at the branch in Bon Temps there was a $680 charge to Delta… and after 15 minutes on hold, filling her idle time with providing more details of 'skipping' instead of listening to Flock Of Seagulls and Gary Glitter, we had a traceable lead.

Nassau.

"Why the fuck would you go to the Bahamas?"

She rolled her eyes up to think about it, but she ended up giggling, "Because Your Sookie is too silly to know she could be having more fun in Longyearbyen." With the right tour guide, she could.

"You've been?"

"At the beginning of the dark season. Where else would you pick for a honeymoon." Nowhere. 24 hour nights with Sookie…. Fuck. I couldn't think about that…

"Why the Bahamas?"

"I think she would've done some research. It's not as though Vampires are sun-seekers. It's English speaking. It's touristy, so even if she stands out it'd be a waiting game before she's clear… it might help that she doesn't need to have a passport to get there. Only to get home. Bikini-clad blonds who smell like sunlight aren't exactly rare."

"Do you know anyone there?"

"Queen Wyannie, but Your Sookie wouldn't have met her yet. I met her at the Texiana wedding. I'm booked to go down there next month."

"Booked?"

She nodded. "Yeah. See… we kind of got ahead of things. I do telepathy clinics. Vampires bring their pets and day guys to me for reading. It's better than some of the other versions because it's hard to covet something that's so available. No one wants to steal a 7-11 and keep it to themselves. My Eric doesn't have to worry about me like that… Oh… and from what we learned, once some Sookies start seeing that Erics aren't just trying to plant a flag in 'the new toy' she stops being so challenging. It helps that she's earning on her own and doesn't feel kept as a pet too."

I smiled, actually smiled wider than I had in a while… but then, Sookie had that effect on me. "That is very good to know, but… are you not in danger?"

"I've pissed a few folks off because they have to think of a new way to be shady assholes…"

"Do you think I could get her to come home if she knows that? If she knows that things will settle down and she isn't…"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe, all it will take is being told how you feel about her. You and Jason are the only ones she felt like she was leaving behind. Bill being dead will help. Once I tell her what he was up to, she's going to be pissed."

"What do you mean, what he was up to?"

"Sophie-Ann sent him to meet me because Hadley is homesick. She knew that I'm a telepath, but because of the skips she didn't tell Bill. He was just supposed to see if we would freak out meeting a real Vampire. He decided to work on me and keep me to himself. Lorena usually gets involved. What we know is that Bill seduced her, let Gran get killed to isolate her… then when you tricked her into sucking that bullet out of your shoulder… you did that, right?"

I nodded.

"Because she'd had your blood, he got spooked and upped his game… he called Lorena to bring her into his plans… his kidnapping and torture in Jackson were staged. He didn't think you'd go with her. It was just a way to get Sookie out of Louisiana. They were going to take her back to Washington and use her to take over." No.

"She was raped…" Because I'd been opportunistic.

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known what he was up to." Yes, it was.

"She's probably better off in the Bahamas."

She raised an eyebrow and reached for the phone again. "No. She's better off with you. She's pointless down there. No one needs her. No one loves her. My Eric has a lot of practice convincing Sookies that we're good together. She'll be back."

She dialed the phone and waited while I tried to decide if coming back was smart… if I shouldn't just join her, retire like Pam teased.

"Atlantis Hotel and Casino, Paradise Island. How can I direct your call?"

"Check in, please." She pulled my hand onto her lap and ran her thumb over the back of my ring finger.

"Guest services, Harvey speaking. How can I be of service?"

"Hello. I'm looking for my sister. She's prone to depression and takes off from time to time. I know she's flown into Nassau and she picks big places to stay at so she doesn't stand out. I was wondering if you could tell me if she's there. Her plane landed at 1. Her name is Sookie Stackhouse, but she could be staying under a pseudonym. And she'd be using cash because she cleaned out her bank account."

"Is she a danger to anyone?"

"No sir. Not at all, but we worry."

"I understand. It should just take a moment."

"I'm grateful. Really. The holidays are so hard for her."

"Yes, of course… One woman checked into the hotel at about 3 o'clock. Singles stand out this time of year. She's registered under the name of Adele Hale though…"

"That's her. Adele was our grandmother who recently passed. Would you mind connecting me?"

"Certainly…"

While Sookie was on hold, I asked, "Would you have used that name?"

She shook her head and whispered, "Not unless I wanted to be found. Jason couldn't have tracked her down, but you could have…"

Sookie stopped when the call was answered, "Hello?" I 'knew' there was another me somewhere, but I still couldn't believe I was hearing my voice coming from the other end of the line.

"I love you madly, Eric. I'm sorry for whatever she's said or done."

"You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. Do you still mean it knowing that I almost fucked her?" I wasn't sure what was more intriguing, the way Sookie giggled about it or that My Sookie let it get as far as 'almost'.

"Lemme guess… she laid down after sunbathing and she thought she was dreaming when you woke up high?"

"She's been yelling and/or crying for a while and I'm still hard… Where are you?"

"Not close enough to help, Sweetie. Sorry. I'm at Fangtasia. I'm with the other You."

"And I'm in Nassau, waiting for the boutique to deliver some clothes. I've had to charter a flight. I'll be getting home just before dawn. Are there problems?"

"Now that I've killed Bill, the only thing wrong is that I miss you. This Sookie pulled a Hoffa."

"No. Hoffa went to the Riviera… This Sookie doesn't want to return with me. She's panicking, thinking Her Eric found her so easily. She's planning to leave… What should I know?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 2**

**Oops**

**NASSAU**

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that it was the wrong time of year to enjoy such a concentration of sunlight…

Why look a gift horse in the mouth?

I wish I could say that I was just assuming that we'd had an unexpected warm day and that Sookie had taken advantage of it by lying out… but honestly, I didn't care.

It was December, so I was eager to enjoy myself. Who the fuck was I to ask how Sookie had brought me so much sunlight?

She was already starting to cool, so she'd been inside for a while, but the scent was still heavy enough to bathe in.

She whimpered when I kissed her, only waking completely once she was nearly out of breath.

Helping me peel away her bikini and running her fingers through my hair…

Letting me have my fun, fill my senses, enjoy the high…

I couldn't help but slide my fingers in, steel a taste… making her cum just made the scent that much sweeter…

Rubbing and nipping everywhere I could, from her neck to her ankles and back again.

She moaned and gasped, squirmed and shuddered…

Kissing me again once I made my way back to her lips…

Smiling, shaking her head and saying, "Why does this dream feel more real now that you're further away?" Fuck me.

I pulled her hand out of my hair, confirming that there was nothing on her finger. "FUCK!" I had to force myself off the bed. Given the mood I was in, I went to the curtains, hoping that I could open the window… any relief. Better than a window… there was a small balcony…

Sookie covered herself with the sheet. "_**This isn't a dream!?**_ How did… shit. The plane ticket. Were you watching my bank account?"

"Where are we?"

"That's not funny. You obviously know where we are… Could you come inside… cover up… _**SOMETHING**_? You're naked…" Because whatever commercially scenic hotel we were in billed my aching cock in the brochures.

"I don't know about you, but I don't spend a lot of time using balconies to look at other balconies. Is this Mexico?"

"No! How do you _**NOT**_ know?"

"I didn't do anything to put myself here. Where are we?"

"Paradise Island, Nassau."

"The Bahamas? What the fuck are you doing in the Bahamas? You clearly didn't come with any Vampires or you'd have a light-tight room…" I didn't smell any other scents for that matter.

"You're not funny! How did you find me so fast?"

"I wasn't looking for you, but am I to assume you've robbed Louisiana of a telepath?"

"Is that what I am? Gee, thanks for reminding me! Are you going to take me back? I never would've thought you…"

I gave up my hopes that fresh air would help my mood. I walked back into the room only to be shrieked at about still being nude… because I would've kept clothing out there.

I used a towel to effectively make a ridiculous tent and she grabbed my hand when I reached for the phone. "Who are you calling?"

I snatched the receiver from her. "I'm calling the concierge. Apparently, I made it all the way to the Bahamas without a stitch of clothes." And I wouldn't make fun of Sookie for wearing random sweatpants or pajamas anymore. Thanks to the skips, she'd found herself in need of clothing several times.

While I was arranging for clothing to be delivered from the boutique downstairs and a way home, Sookie searched… she tore the small hotel room apart looking for clothing, then abandoned her sheet to put her robe on to go search the hall. Since she was so convinced that I'd hidden my clothes from myself, I suggested that she look at neighboring balconies and the garden to be sure I hadn't pitched them in my dastardly scheme to stalk her 1000 miles just to give myself blue balls.

By the time she was back, I was calling Fangtasia, being told that 'Master Eric' wasn't to be disturbed. The message I had to carefully word… _"Skip called from the Bahamas. It's urgent."_

Sookie had her mouth open to begin my berating when the concierge called back with an update. My clothes would be delivered within the hour and my charter (which was the only way I'd get home before dawn) would be ready at midnight.

As soon as I hung up, she yelled, "I'm not going back with you!"

"Good. You weren't invited!"

"What? Why the hell would you come all this way and then just turn around and go home?"

"I already told you that I didn't mean to come here. I died in my bed this morning and rose here with you…"

"Did you think you were dreaming too?" The question, if taken at face value, would've been harmless, but the way she asked was venomous.

"No. I was perfectly aware that I was in bed with Sookie…" I licked my lips to remind her of what she 'dreamt'. "And she got much more out of it than I did. But YOU are the wrong Sookie."

"What? Do you have a back up Sookie? One that puts out and doesn't argue?" Yes.

"Does the Eric you know think you're nothing but a telepath?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Then why don't you figure that out instead of throwing accusations at me. I'll leave you alone as soon as my clothing is delivered."

"I don't get it. How did you get here if you…"

"Did you find my phone while you were looking for my clothes?" She nodded and pointed to the bed. I grabbed it and opened the photo album I'd been keeping. "We're assuming that it has to do with Vampires and Faeries coupling. It happens to Hadley and Sophie-Ann and happens to me and my wife…"

"You son of a bitch! You're married and you've been flirting with me all this time…"

"Close your mouth. Don't ask questions and begin a conniption before the answer is complete. Yes, I'm married. I'm married to My Sookie. The Eric who's been flirting with you is as unattached as I was before Sookie walked into my life. Before you start calling me a liar or a lunatic, look at the album… It's turned out to be the most convincing evidence we have. We can't explain why it happens, it just does. Adele began calling it 'skipping' months ago. Jason has joked about bonding with Bubba so he can skip as well. Once I get back to Shreveport, I'll be able to go back to my version of reality, back to my family… I'm hoping that my Sookie is waiting at home for me."

"As opposed to?"

"She's woken up with Compton before."

"Do y'all not like Bill or something?"

"Bill Compton is a bastard. The sooner you cut him out of your life, the better off you are."

She huffed, "I might believe you if there was any evidence to that fact. You keep telling me that Bill can't be trusted, but you just want to get into my pants."

"Not me. I have a Sookie in my bed every night already. I have nothing to gain by telling you Compton is a prick."

"Then what has he done?"

"He might as well have killed your grandmother himself…"

"He didn't hurt Gran…"

"He didn't have to, Sookie. He glamoured Rene to do it for him. He'd have done it himself except he needed you as an alibi."

She shook her head, letting a tear fall. "Did he admit to it?"

"He didn't have to. How did you find Dawn?"

She sniffled, "She was sprawled out on her bed… strangled…"

"And Maudette was killed, how?"

"St…str…strangled."

"But Adele was…?"

She covered her mouth and gasped, "Stabbed."

"It's a long story and I'll gladly explain on the plane."

She wailed, "Why the hell would I go back? Oh my God! I… My house is right next to his! _**If he killed Gran**_…!"

I shrugged and offered my phone to her again. "If the Eric you know has been flirting with you, then I'm sure he'll offer you protection. Why have you run away?"

"My Gran was murdered. I've been attacked by a Maenad. I had an ancient pedophile save me from being raped. I was manhandled and whooped by Weres. I was nearly killed by one Vampire and then raped by…"

"Bill." Fuck. She was the version I was with in Jackson. "So you've been back from Jackson for a week…" I was interrupted by the room's phone. I finally took her hand and put my phone in it… the first picture was of me and My Sookie on the London Eye. Seeing herself with me somewhere she'd never been, finally made her curious enough to look at the photos and give me the chance to answer the phone.

"Hello?" I assumed it was the concierge, calling to tell me I was fucked and had to stay for the day since that would be my luck.

"I love you madly, Eric. I'm sorry for whatever she's said or done." My Sookie's voice always sounded so much sweeter to me during a skip.

"You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. Do you still mean it knowing that I almost fucked her?"

"Lemme guess… she laid down after sunbathing and she thought she was dreaming when you woke up high?" The saddest part was that Sookie wasn't guessing… she was reminding me of 2 other times. At least that Sookie had a sense of humor about it since it was September's Sookie and she was already bonded to 'Me' by the time it happened.

"She's been yelling and/or crying for a while and I'm still hard… Where are you?"

"Not close enough to help, Sweetie. Sorry. I'm at Fangtasia. I'm with the other You." _Lucky bastard. _He has the good one and I'm spending my evening with a belligerent brat… well, she had been belligerent until she started looking through the album. At the time, she was quietly weeping.

"And I'm in Nassau, waiting for the boutique to deliver some clothes. I've had to charter a flight. I'll be getting home just before dawn. Are there problems?"

"Now that I've killed Bill, the only thing wrong is that I miss you. This Sookie pulled a Hoffa."

"No. Hoffa went to the Riviera… This Sookie doesn't want to return with me. She's panicking, thinking Her Eric found her so easily. She's planning to leave… What should I know?"

"Um… I woke up in Bon Temps. Bill grabbed me on the way to the car and started in…"

"Started in how?"

"I love you, Sookeh. You mustn't leave. How could yew scay-ah me intentionalleh? You ah Mine." Complete with horrible accent and phony baritone. _It had been too accurate._

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again."

She giggled. "Sorry. Anyway, he had a few kittens because I 'stunk' of you. He grabbed me again and I shoved a branch from Gran's prized hydrangea into his chest. The end."

"Alcide will be upset that you didn't record it for him."

"HAY! He already got to kill a Bill! It was my turn! _Besides…_ he'll get over it because Ema drew it." I chuckled as I realized… we'd all assumed the 'puddle' in the driveway was transmission or brake fluid… to the extent that we all took our cars in for tune-ups.

"We should tell her that it was just a broken oil pan. She's a little distraught over how many deaths she's drawn."

"I can go along with that… so I get to Fangtasia and well, you're a _very_ good kisser. Couldn't help myself."

"Not funny. Continue my briefing."

She huffed, "Spoil sport… Ok, so, what we know is that this Sookie was in Jackson and got healed by Eric, but this Eric needed me to explain things to him. Somehow, everything went the same for them, but there wasn't two Erics."

"How did they keep Lorena's toadies from reporting his absence?"

There was a pause before the other Eric answered, "Pam force-fed Viagra to a man and glamoured him and a couple of girls to fuck in my office during business hours. Local Vampires knew better than to ask for me because they heard…"

I finished for him, "But Lorena's spies exposed themselves by trying to interrupt. Beautiful. There's a very good reason to keep Pam."

Sookie giggled, "No shit. That's a good one… So, I get here and find out Sookie's had enough. She skipped town and sent letters to Eric and Jason… Hell, sweetie, I don't have to tell you what she went through in Jackson since you saw at least one version happen first hand. Who can blame her? Her letters said she didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her…"

"Nevermind that _**she**_ has been beaten, mauled, raped and objectified."

"Right, now all that considered, she didn't go far enough away. This Eric guessed Florida before I found the charge in her account from Delta. It was only a matter of time before he tracked her down. A couple of nights maybe. Bill was looking for her too."

"He's not an issue now though. Should I just leave her here then? I was going to suggest she come back to Shreveport with me, but if Eric is the only one who can find her…"

"His eyes lit up when I told him about the clinics… that being in the open makes me safer. Judging by the way he kissed me, he'd prefer it if she came home." _Rubbing it in, Sookie? Really?_

"Judging by the way she _squealed_ when I went down on her, she might be inclined to return…"

Runaway Sookie shrieked, "I thought I was dreaming!"

I couldn't help myself, "My wife would certainly have that excuse, but you have a track record of denying your feelings for Your Eric. What does it say that you were begging for…"

"Shut. Up!"

"Why? Because you're still hesitant to admit your feelings for him? Or because he can hear that you haven't denied anything?"

She grumbled, "Asshole," while the other Me asked to speak to her.

When I offered the phone to her, she shook her head and backed up. I had to call her a 'chicken shit' before she'd take it from me.

She growled, "Hello."

"Since Bill's been ended, and I'm the only one who can find you now, you can consider yourself safe where you are, but you forgot a few details. Do you have a preference of a new name?"

"What?"

"Nothing about your name is common. Three states of Vampires know who you are. You might be able to blend in, but your name won't. Let me know what name you want and I'll send new credentials."

"I don't really want to owe you any favors."

"I owe you already. Jackson was my fault and I didn't realize it. If you need anything, just call me. Call your brother. He's worried…"

"You went to Jason?"

"He came to me. Rather, Bill brought him to help accuse me of doing something to you as expected. Just call him on his cell phone. It's harder to trace."

"Wait… how was Jackson your fault?"

"As it turns out, your reason for being in Jackson was staged because I had you pull that bullet out of my shoulder."

She looked at me questioningly so I held up two fingers and said, "That we know of." Given the myriad of ways Jackson could have gone, I was sure we'd meet more eventually. It was early yet.

"It… it doesn't sound like…"

I cut her off. "Everything you left to avoid was neutralized when Bill Compton was ended."

The other Me added, "Even Pam understands why you'd leave, but this Eric and Sookie have come up with a way for her to be openly telepathic too. Just let me know. I'll do what I can to help. I'll look into the Vampires down there so you'll be prepared."

"Um… ok… thanks."

"I promised to give Jason word, but I think he'd rather hear from you. I'll call him tomorrow night to give you some time to do it."

She looked puzzled as she handed the phone back to me and went to the small suitcase on the dresser to gather some clothes.

My Sookie huffed, "Hurry home. I'm on your lap and I miss you."

"Sookie, could you stop flirting with other Mes?"

"You want I should go down on him instead?"

"NOT FUNNY!"

She whined, "But you're all so sexy and… _I miss you_…"

"I'll repeat, NOT. FUNNY."

She giggled. "We're sharing the desk while we tracked y'all down. You should let your snacky-poo know that one call to his bank would've tracked her Dallas check back to her bank… he'd have found her tomorrow. She needs to realize Bill probably would've boxed himself up and landed in Nassau before sunset tomorrow."

"I'll let her know."

"Let her know what?" Sookie had barely let me hang up the phone.

"They found you because Sookie knew your bank information. She still has the account… but it would have only taken one phone call before Your Eric found out what bank you use. After that, Pam could've glamoured to find the charges for the plane ticket."

"But would he have bothered?"

"Yes. As a minimum, he would've warned you that you weren't well hidden enough to evade Compton. He guessed Florida. If he could feel you…"

She nodded and finished, "Bill would've… I didn't realize what Bill was up to. Eric, I've… _I've felt sorry for him_."

"I'm sure… The other Me obviously didn't hold that against you. My fucking wife is on his lap at the moment."

She snorted before breaking into a full laugh, but she shook her head with her hands up. "_I'm sorry, I'm sorry._ I just… to hear you talk about 'your wife' is weird enough, but… you're jealous that back in Shreveport, she's basically sitting on your lap… after what I woke up to? This is the definition of insanity."

"Actually, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome."

She rolled her eyes and started for the bathroom with her clothes. "Is that what this is? Your Sookie 'got it right' by being with you from the jump? So you guys get to impart your wisdom to the rest of us?"

Since we still hadn't figured that out, I shrugged. "We're learning as we go… Knowing that you're safer to go back now that you've killed Lorena and Bill, are you traveling with me?"

She put her things on the bathroom counter and came back over to face me. "I'm still worried that something is going to happen to someone I love because of me."

"In all the scenarios we've seen when we skip, the misery that you've been through has been because of Bill and Rene. Your Rene is in prison and your version of Compton is no longer a consideration."

"What about later? What about Stan Davis and Russell Edgington and Queen…"

"Stan Davis has Barry now thanks to you. Russell Edgington most likely considers you to owe him a favor, and nothing more, because you bled all over his limo and guest room. Sophie-Ann is a bizarre creature, but she has a very firm grip on the concepts of freedom and family. Since she gains insight from the skips, she won't employ extreme measures. She'll offer you a contract… I would like to point out that this isn't like you. Are you really running from 'what ifs'?"

She huffed. "If you laugh, I swear to God, I'll kick your ass… I dragged my ass out of bed a couple of days ago and went to the grocery store. I ran into a friend of mine. She was jittery so I listened in… Eric, I met Vampires and life as I knew it was over. Vampires brought on Shifters. Shifters brought on Weres… Maenads and Trolls and whatever Dr. Ludwig is… My friend is a Witch and I never put any bank in that, but there's new Witches in Shreveport that she's _**TERRIFIED**_ of. Every time something new happens…"

"It certainly isn't pleasant for you… It's understandable for you to be concerned, but why didn't you tell your Eric about it?"

"I did. I mailed both letters at the same time. I sent one to Pam anonymously, but I wrote both of them so he'd know it was me."

"There are good Witches and…"

She glared at me as she interrupted, "If you give me some Wizard of Oz joke…"

I chuckled, "I wasn't going to. My assistant is a Witch. She's likely to be one of the most powerful Witches I've come across, but she, and I'm quoting Paulette, 'uses her powers for love instead of destruction'. She uses her skills to cast wards and protection spells. She bound a pair of young Weres from shifting without their Packmaster's approval because they were being mischievous enough to have most of Oklahoma wolf hunting… What I'm getting at, was Holly terrified of their intentions or their power?"

"I… How did you know it was Holly?"

"Because Holly is the only Witch My Sookie knew until she met Paulette and her family. Holly is only practicing and has no special craft or ability. Well?"

"I don't know. She was thinking about a brother and sister and… that screwing around with the Vampires in the Area was going to get everyone killed."

I took my phone from the arm of the chair where she left it and scrolled through the album to find one of the new Christmas photos. I held it out to show Sookie. "The two in the background? They are Porter and Paulette Simonette."

"The woman on Alcide's lap?"

I nodded. "Paulette. They started dating almost as soon as Paulette joined us in Shreveport."

She grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah? They look sweet together… Not like that Deb nut. That isn't the Witch Holly was picturing."

I nodded. "Get dressed. I'll call Fangtasia back and then you can call Jason."

Eric was laughing when he answered, "Northman."

"Greetings. Do I want to know what she did to make you laugh like that?"

He chuckled, "No. Pam's not talking to us right now."

"Pranking while coasting across plains in existence. Lovely. While you've been enjoying your evening…"

"_More than you know_." I could be **such** an **asshole**.

"I discovered why Your Sookie left. She mailed a letter to Pam anonymously in regards to Witches being in the Area. Her friend Holly is terrified and knows that they have plans to interfere with Vampires somehow."

"Witches? She survived a Maenad attack and she's afraid of…"

"As soon as she met a Vampire, someone died. As soon as she met a Maenad, she was attacked. Werewolves have tried to kill her and she saw Hobbs melt the skin from a man. I think she might have an excuse to be leery of a natural Witch powerful enough to scare her own kind and dumb enough to antagonize Vampires."

"Fair point… Your Sookie knows the witness too, yes? Questioning her would be sensible."

"And calling Paulette for input."

"Are you certain you aren't just thinking of reasons to get your wife off my lap?" _Was she still on it?_

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Have Pam look through her mail. Find something out. It might be useful to us as well."

I lounged on the bed wrapped in a towel since I was still waiting for my delivery from downstairs.

Sookie scowled as she dialed her brother. "Cover up or something!"

"No. Stop looking."

"I'm not…"

"And drooling."

She flipped me off as her brother sleepily answered, "Sook?" How did he know it was her?

"Hey Jason."

"Shit! How are… I… Wait. Before I forget, that Eric guy, he told me to tell you if you need anything call him. No questions asked."

"Eric said that?"

"Yeah. After he read Bill the riot act for being like the world's shittiest boyfriend and threw him outta town. He's worried that someone could still find you… How come you didn't tell me e'erthing? I mean… you been through a lot."

"It just wasn't something I could really talk about." I couldn't have been happier to hear the knock on the door.

"Makes me wanna whoop Bill's ass myself. That fuck. When I read my letter I went over to your place… he came over and sniffed around. He said he smelled another Vampire in your bed…"

She scoffed, "_**Oh God!**_ That idiot… that's like over a week old… from before I went to Jackson." I tossed the towel at her and dug into my bag of new clothes. I couldn't bring myself to care that the shirt was a souvenir and the shoes were flip flops. At least they carried actual jeans.

"Yeah, well… Bill was shitty anyway… checked his mailbox when we left for Shreveport… you shoulda seen the looks…"

"What looks?"

"That sexy Vampire…"

"Eric?" I chuckled quietly because she was still preoccupied from earlier.

"Naw… I mean, I wouldn't go gay for him or nothin', but _he's alright_… Talking 'bout the one with lips that could…"

Sookie cut him off, unwilling to hear how he was going to fill in the blank. "**Pam**."

"Right… her. Anyway. Eric was reading his letter when we got to his office. Just got it I guess… he looked like someone killed his puppy… Bill just looked like the first kid in line when the roller coaster shut down." That sounded fairly accurate. Jason had his own special descriptive style… once you learned to think in crayon, he painted fairly accurate mental images.

"How shitty was he?"

"He started off by accusing Eric of taking you or knowing where you are… Eric told him that if he had ya, he wouldn't be wastin' time at Fangtasia."

She snorted, "Oh did he?"

"Yeah… so… e'erthing ok? I mean, what are you, like at an airport or something?"

"No. I'm… _On my way home_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 3**

**Always Fun**

As soon as she placed the phone back in the cradle, Sookie glared at me.

"What is the nasty look for?"

"You. Why don't you just own up to liking her? You had the perfect chance to say something when you had her on the phone. You sat there like a stooge."

"You expect me to say what exactly?"

"She'd probably shit her pants if you said you love her… you should start small with something like, 'I'd miss you if you stayed away'. I don't think that would've hurt."

"I told her that there were options for being in Shreveport."

"But not that you preferred the idea."

"It's not as though… She is a stubborn bitch! I've saved her life and she still acts as though I'm out to get her…"

"Well, the reason for that problem is currently killing the grass in her yard. I'm going to be having a chat with her…"

"She might not be coming back."

"Then I'll call her… There's a few things she needs to hear… I'm going to give her an Eric cheat-sheet."

"That's not exactly fair. I've had no help. In fact…"

She put her hand over my mouth and giggled, "Stop whining. You've got me all night. I'll tell you everything you need to know… And if she does come back then maybe we can make some efforts in that direction."

"Efforts?"

She nodded and took her hand away. "According to what we know, Bill Compton started filling Your Sookie's head with fear as soon as you met her. Every kind thing you've done for her has been twisted to seem sinister… And you haven't helped your case very much since the only 'feelings' you've mentioned to her have to do with your cock."

I narrowed my eyes. "You don't know that for sure."

"Then when have you…?"

I decided it was _my_ turn to cover _her_ mouth. "Not the point."

She giggled into my palm and lifted her chin away from my hand. "But Bill showed up and it was too easy for him. Life made her the perfect target. She had no clue what that asshole was thinking and I can tell you this because I've met other Sookies who got snowed, she associates how your mind feels when you lie to love, of all things. She's got no idea how much you care for her because you've never lied to her… The bad news is that even though she's spending time with an Eric who's out of the closet about loving me, he isn't much of a _goodwill ambassador_ when he has blue balls."

"After rising the way he did…"

She snickered, "No pun intended?"

"Pun _**fully**_ intended. He'd better have been putting in the effort…"

She bent over to cackle, "When do you not?"

"Fangbangers."

"_Oh yeah_… them. Not to worry. You're better than Bill in your sleep from what I've heard… Okay, so now that Pam is on the way back…"

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel you notice her. I know your mind like the back of my hand, bond or not. So… back to Pam? Should we have some fun?"

"What kind of fun?"

"You 'called' her to come back, so she doesn't know that it's because you found Your Sookie."

"We can strip our clothes and let her think she's walking in on us."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm willing to go as far as faking a BJ." Oh really?

"Good. Take off your clothes…"

She threw her head back and laughed. "You think I don't know better? You don't bother yourself with that step with most Fangbangers… If I'm on my knees, your desk and my hair will make me look like just another donor." Fuck. At least I tried.

"If you aren't naked, then Pam will sense that I'm not fully engaged. I won't have any fun." That was a lie… I wanted my own Sookie… I liked seeing the sincere smile on this one too much. The only times I'd ever seen her smile had been counterfeit or meant for Compton.

"Psshhhh… I've been with a You long enough to learn a few tricks. _I got this_..."

Sookie and I hurried through our plans to toy with Pam so that we could have as much rehearsed as possible. Sookie swore that she wouldn't be the one to give us away… if anything betrayed us, it would be my bond with Pam.

Sookie didn't miss a beat, feeling Pam's mind arrive, she rubbed as she slithered to the floor and the way she looked up at me from between my feet… **fuck**.

She cooed, "You should run out those fangs… we want Pam to buy this."

I let them down since I'd been holding them back. "_Certain individuals_ act like they're frightened of them." My version of Sookie had shied away from them.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "_Certain individuals_ are full of shit… My Eric's fangs run out before he's awake enough to move on purpose when I go to bed smelling like sunshine…" Fuck… I wanted that enough that I might have begged.

"Yet she had no qualms that he was going down on her."

She wiggled her eyebrows at me. "She said she thought she was dreaming… _she didn't call it a nightmare_." _What a very encouraging observation._

"My my, aren't we astute."

"I try…" She lifted her arm, offering her wrist. "Just a bite unless you want to see how long it takes to grow back the chunk I take out of your leg."

"That sounds tempting."

Sookie opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by Pam… as she approached my office, she huffed, "Jesus, it still smells like Stackhouse…" I took Sookie's wrist and she pulled my other hand to her hair, lowering her face to my lap as I bit. As soon as I tasted her, I knew I was ruined. Only drawing once, but leaving Sookie's wrist to my mouth for show as Pam reached the door and continued, "Can I have Jason since you're going to run away with the other one?"

I pressed Sookie's head against my cock like I would have done to any fangbanger and drew one more mouthful before releasing her arm. "As long as he's willing." It was difficult to say that much with Sookie pushing warmth through my pants. Sookie might have been faking it for the sake of the joke, but everything Pam was sensing from me was authentic.

Pam stopped just inside the door and rolled her eyes before shutting the door. "Sorry to interrupt."

"She can wait…" Sookie mumbled and made a slurping noise to sell the scene. "I found Sookie." A couple of them. It had been my lucky night.

"And a stand-in, it seems. Where is she?"

"Between my feet…"

She rolled her eyes again and huffed, "Sookie. Where is _Sookie?_"

"Oh. She made a reservation at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau. Bank records. The concierge knows she's being searched for."

"You have blood on your chin… Are you going to shop for Havana shirts and board shorts _**before**_ you breach your contract?" No… after.

I used Sookie's hair to lift her face away as though I was letting her breathe and let her fake a few gasps before pushing her back down. Pam barely noticed. "I'm waiting to talk to her. Now that Compton is dead, things have changed."

"Compton is dead? Permanently? When did this happen?"

"Shortly after he left here. He's putrefying in Sookie's yard at the moment."

"Jason?"

"I'm sure he's already spread the word. I wouldn't put it past the Shifter to react to the news Sookie is gone."

She turned for the door. "At least we know that much. I'll let you get back to your meal..." Sookie grunted against me and began to squirm. "…before _'Random Blonde playing the role of Sookie' _suffocates on your dick. I'll be out front."

"I could just let her go. Do you have anything else?"

"How did you hear about Compton being ended? _Is there a video?_"

"Sookie told me."

Pam raised an eyebrow and asked, "Which one?" Finally! I wasn't sure I could take much more of having Sookie's head pressed against my cock.

I lifted Sookie by her hair and said, "This one."

While Pam stammered, Sookie put her legs under her to put herself back on my lap and offer her wrist so I could heal it… She wasn't at all shy about licking away the remains of my feeding and her healing.

Pam finally managed to put words together enough to shout, "_**IT WAS ALL A JOKE!? She never left?**_"

I shrugged and offered, "Merry Christmas?"

Sookie giggled, "Ho, ho, ho…" as Pam called us assholes and dashed out of the room to pout alone.

We were both laughing our asses off when my phone began ringing…

Sookie left my lap to close the office door without being asked as I answered, "Northman."

The other me replied, "Greetings. Do I want to know what she did to make you laugh like that?" _I just fed from your wife and received a phony blow job that was promising enough to make me wonder if I could just keep the Sookie I had. Thanks for asking._

When Sookie whispered for me to behave, I couldn't help but laugh, "No. Pam's not talking to us right now."

"Pranking while coasting across plains of existence? Lovely. While you've been enjoying your evening…"

"_More than you know_." Blue balls. Both of Me were in the same 'health', but he didn't need to know that.

He ignored it. "I discovered why Your Sookie left. She mailed a letter to Pam anonymously in regards to Witches being in the Area. Her friend Holly is terrified and knows that they have plans to interfere with Vampires somehow."

"Witches? She survived a Maenad attack and she's afraid of…"

"As soon as she met a Vampire, someone died. As soon as she met a Maenad, she was attacked. Werewolves have tried to kill her and she saw Hobbs melt the skin from a man. I think she might have an excuse to be leery of a natural Witch powerful enough to scare her own kind and dumb enough to antagonize Vampires."

"Fair point… Your Sookie knows the witness too, yes? Questioning her would be sensible."

"And calling Paulette for input."

"Are you certain you aren't just thinking of reasons to get your wife off my lap?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Have Pam look through her mail. Find something out. It might be useful to us as well."

I could have been pissed that he barked orders at me, but… he was Me. It was too bizarre to fathom.

As soon as I hung up, Sookie made a sympathetic face and said, "Wait 'til you're in the same room together… Alcide jokes that he's having acid flashbacks when he sees it. 'Better you than me,' is the catchphrase at home right now."

"I'm sure… You heard about the unfolding Witch situation, yes?"

She nodded, but didn't say anything as she left the office… She came back a moment later with an envelope like the one I'd opened earlier and sat down on the sofa with it.

She took the letter out and handed the empty envelope to me, asking, "Same postmark?"

"Don't you recognize your own handwriting?"

She crossed her legs and giggled, "Barely. I'm so bonded to my Eric, mine has gotten really neat like his… I was just asking because I wouldn't have sent them from the same place… The return address on that one is Bryant Park to get Pam's attention." That would do it.

"She used her house's address and mailed them from Bon Temps. She drove to Ruston for this one."

"I would have sent it 'care of Winifred'."

"She'd kill you."

She grinned from ear to ear. "She'd have to find me first… You ready?"

"To hear that I have a Witch in my Area? Foolishness and power never go well together…"

She interrupted by snorting. "Shut up. Don't act like intrigue isn't your second favorite flavor."

"My favorite being…?"

"Me…" She cleared her throat and lifted her chin to jokingly put on airs…

"_To whom it may concern…_

_It has come to my attention that someone has recently moved into your Area that may very well cause a lot of grief. It was only today that I overheard particulars of the new residents. I did have some trouble hearing some things and only heard part of the details before the person I was overhearing was distracted. _

_In general, the situation consists of Witches moving to Shreveport. _

_They have been consuming Vampire blood to enhance their own abilities. _

_They have a grudge against the Supe communities in Area 5._

_They've all but taken over a local coven that hadn't ever stirred up any trouble that they knew of. The principal players have started recruiting unwilling Witches by threatening them. Most of them are unwilling participants._

_The person mentioned that Vampires of importance were being targeted as well as the local pack._

_Unfortunately, that's the bulk of what I overheard, but there were some scattered keywords that caught my attention._

_Abduction_

_Murder_

_Bridal shop_

_Spells_

_Sheriff_

_Good luck trying to prevent harm from coming to anyone._

_I wish I could be more help._

_I just can't risk it."_

Sookie held the letter out to me so that I could read it for myself and huffed, "At least she hid that the info was gathered via telepathy well enough… I'm going to go get a drink. Want anything?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Not from the bar."

She walked towards me, practically hypnotizing me with her hips until she braced herself on the arms of my chair… leaning over until our noses touched. "You'll get your Sookie."

"I already have one."

She smirked and said, "When you get her, you'll bond to her… Now, you do your best to seem like an asshole, but you're a very principled man… When you and your Sookie start skipping, do you want her to fuck and feed with another you?"

"I wouldn't mind at all." She could tell I was lying, but I had to try.

"Okay… I'll call my Eric back and give him permission to fuck your Sookie. I mean since we're the same, it's no big deal, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You made your point. Get your drink. We need to talk to Holly."

She kissed my cheek before she left, giggling under her breath that she 'thought so'.

While Sookie was gone I read and reread the letter from My Sookie… the actual message was as straight forward as it could be. It was the subtext that I was studying.

Even though I knew that My Sookie left to avoid the impending commotion, it wasn't like her… Not considering the way she'd been when we first met. The last few months had definitely chinked her armor. It wasn't something I would have thought about before either. I'd been too distracted by Sookie to see the bigger picture.

It hadn't been but a couple of hours since I'd reminded Compton what his failures had caused… But I'd been keeping score, considering each list item to be Bill losing ground in a game…

I had compartmentalized the events of the last few months instead of realizing how each one was weighing on Sookie.

Bill Compton hadn't just failed to keep Adele Stackhouse safe… Sookie lost the woman who raised her and understood her gift.

Bill Compton hadn't just failed to discourage Sookie from going into the Fellowship alone… Sookie was brutalized and narrowly escaped rape and immolation.

And the list went on…

I'd already decided that I couldn't hold her departure against her…

But I had to add that I was much more of an asshole than I thought to the list of reasons she had for leaving.

I must have wasted half an hour contemplating the dilemma of what to do if she didn't come back, how to proceed if she did, if there was any way to help her realize there was more to her than mind reading in my opinion…

And I was only just beginning to wonder how much insight I could get from the visiting Sookie before her husband returned when I realized how long I'd been pondering.

Pam's mood was sour, but given the prank that wasn't a surprise…

I entered the bar to find Sookie… If I was going to talk to Holly, I needed Sookie with me since she was My Sookie's friend.

Nothing.

The only clue I had was the unattended rocks glass left on the bar…

When she wasn't on the floor or at the bar, I opened the bathroom door and called for her… Nothing.

Like that wasn't enough to worry me, Pam wasn't at the front door either.

Feeling that Pam's location was still so close was the only settling thing about their disappearance. The thought of Pam confronting Sookie about our prank crossed my mind, but that concern was put to rest as I turned the corner to the back of the bar.

Pam and Sookie were standing side by side… Sookie was holding a woman up, her arm was stretched out, pinning the women to the brick wall behind her by her neck and leaving her feet to dangle… Meanwhile Pam was pinning another woman to the ground by standing on her hands.

I couldn't decide what was more impressive… that Sookie wasn't struggling to hold her prisoner, that she looked positively venomous, or that Pam seemed to be following Sookie's lead.

As I approached, the woman in Sookie's hold kicked her leg…

Sookie chuckled, "Is that all you've got? One more of those and you're toast. Tell me, Jenna, where am I going to find Hallow?"

The woman's face was swollen from the pressure being applied to her throat, but she managed to choke, "She'll kill me."

"What does Hallow look like?"

The woman shook her head.

"What does Mark look like?"

The woman just stared back at her.

"Have they approached Colonel Flood?"

The woman gave the effort, arching her back to try to escape.

"What do they have planned?"

When the woman's eyes crossed, Sookie's rolled.

She shook her head, and looked over her shoulder at me. "Good timing. Can you hold this bitch down while I talk to the other one? Don't touch her. The 'glitter' they're wearing is silver dust."

When I nodded, Sookie tossed the woman to the ground and as I put my foot on her hand, Pam gave me a look… she was no less impressed than I was.

Pam backed up to stand next to me when Sookie told her she could handle it. She whispered, "How long has Sookie been so… _hot?_"

Sookie giggled, "This is what happens when old ass Vampires feed Faeries their blood, Pam. Just ask Hadley. I handed her ass to her when she mouthed off the other day."

"Hadley being?"

Sookie kicked the woman in the side and barked an order for her to get up. "The Queen's Hadley, my cousin. Hadley Stackhouse Delahoussaye."

Pam's eyes widened, but she waited to say anything in favor of watching Sookie work. She only had one chance to see Mine in action and that was simple mind reading and it seemed so long ago… Even My Sookie showed her mettle in Jackson.

Sookie glared at the woman. "What does Hallow want?"

Instead of saying anything the woman staggered her first few steps of her attempt to run away… Sookie looked up at the sky and heaved out a deep cloud of chilled breath. She let the woman get far enough that Pam wanted to go after her, but Sookie moved fast enough to surprise us…

She stopped just in front of the runaway and tilted her head. "Really Anne? _Really?_"

The woman reeled back, stumbling onto her ass. "They're going to kill us!"

"_**No**_. They sent you into Fangtasia as a sacrificial lamb, stupid. I can tell you right now that you were sent to see if the target was clued in to the fact that Hallow was planning to make a move. You come in, learn what you can and report back. Great. They have intel. If you're noticed and don't ever turn up, Hallow knows to lay low. You're Human. You're nothing but a poser with an affinity for botanicals. You were recruited as cannon fodder, a meat shield. In fact, they'd be hoping you do get killed here. It'll justify their original plans and they just call it a volley instead of an attack… How many of you are there?"

"I… I don't know… 20 maybe."

"What is she holding over you?"

"My… my kids…"

"Where is she staying?"

She shook her head. "I don't know… we… she hasn't mentioned…"

Sookie looked in our direction to ask, "Can y'all think of anything else we need to know?"

"Have we learned anything?"

She grinned. "Of course we have."

"Then no." As long as we knew where to find whoever had designs on my Area, that was all we really needed.

Sookie shrugged and snatched a handful of the woman's hair to drag her over to where Pam and I were waiting… Once she stopped, she pushed her hand into Anne's top.

As Sookie flipped the other 'Witch' over and fished the pouch out of her shirt, she explained, "Having Paulette around has come in handy in _so many ways_. Rosemary, cedar and silver make for a gris-gris against glamouring."

She stood up and took the pouches to the dumpster to dump the contents and keep the bags.

"Y'all should glamour them to sing show tunes when they're asked what they learned… They'll probably just get written off. Have them stop at Wal-Mart to use their credit cards for groceries or something just in case they disappear… so it's obvious they made it out of Fangtasia alive."

I wasn't just getting a glimpse of what My Sookie could do with practice. I was getting a glimpse of what Mine would be like as a Vampire.

It was so fucking beautiful, I was hard.

Pam paced in my office while we waited for Sookie to clean the silver from her hands… When Sookie joined us with her drink, she set her glass on my desk and pulled her shirt off to toss it in the bin.

She opened the closet to procure one of my t-shirts and asked, "You don't mind, do you? I'm sure some silver transferred."

"Not at all…"

Pam interrupted, "I'm still pissed about that 'Runaway Bride' thing, but Sookie… _I've got a boner_. When did you get to be such a badass?"

She snickered as she opened her belt to tuck my shirt into her jeans. "I'm not a badass. Those twats are messing with Eric." It didn't seem to matter that they were 'messing' with an Eric she wasn't married to.

"You were holding one over your head."

"Eric's blood. Lots of it."

Pam tilted her head and sighed, "_I heard_… So we have a Witch problem?"

Sookie grabbed her drink and sat on the sofa. "She goes by Hallow, but her brother has slipped and called her Marnie a couple of times. She's not a natural Witch. She's a Practicing Were… She shifted in front of the new recruits to make them think she did it magically. They're terrified of her. The end game is dominating Area 5 but we don't know why yet. She's addicted to Vampire blood and Jenna overheard Hallow telling Mark that she couldn't wait to get her hands on Eric. There are plans to go after Flood's Lieus and blackmail him for use of his soldiers… The plan is to take out as many of the Shreveport Supes as possible and take over." They could try.

I asked, "Do they have funding?"

"I don't know what kind of bankroll they have at the moment, but after she catches you and bleeds you for as long as she can, she'll get her hands on your revenue." My pale ass.

"You seem to have some insight about witches. Ideas?"

"Well, someone needs to take me to grab something to eat. I'm starved."

"Not a problem. Do you not have any ideas about preventative measures?"

"Then we go to her house and kill her and her brother in their sleep, silly."


	4. Chapter 4

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 5**

**Ding Dong**

Sookie barely had the chance to order a steak and egg platter and sweet tea before my cell phone rang.

I groaned as I pulled it out of my pocket. "Did we forget something, Pam?"

"Tell me again why I can't join you? You're hogging a Sookie that isn't even yours." Brat.

"Because you need an alibi."

"And what is yours?" Sookie and I are currently in the Bahamas.

"I'm responding to a call from Sookie about a mysterious puddle in her drivew-"

"Bullshit."

"Pam, if something happens, then you are to call Paulette and come up with a plan B."

"I'm second string?"

"We've covered this. Your feelings are hurt. I'm sure you've already treated your melancholy with a virtual visit to Saks…"

Sookie bit her lip and reached under the table. It took feeling her foot slide along my inner thigh to realize I'd heard her shoe hit the floor. Her eyes locked on mine, her foot teasing it's way to my cock and once she was sure she'd done enough damage, she whimpered, "Eric, get off the phone…"

Pam practically exploded, "I'm being excluded from this outing so you can make a pit stop to fuck!?"

"Pam…"

"That's. Just. Beautiful. Whatever!" She hung up and Sookie started giggling, immediately taking her foot back to replace her shoe.

I shook my head. "You might not be as amused if you knew how pissed she is right now." Or how hard I was. _All it took was her foot?_

"But… _She isn't hurt by thinking you've replaced her as your partner in crime_. She thinks with her cock more than you do, so she'll forgive you once her shipment of Fendis arrive."

"You seem pretty sure of that."

"_Awww, c'mon_. As long as she's been with you, she's still waiting to find something better. You're everything to her and the only thing she couldn't stand is if you forgot that. She's got it good and she knows it."

"Did your Pam tell you that or is this one of the things you've picked up on?"

She grinned and thanked the waitress for her drink before she answered, "Both… and I can draw an instruction manual for your brains... Our Pam hated me at first."

"Hated you?" Impossible. Sookie Stackhouse was the best thing since Big Brother as far as Pam was concerned.

She nodded while she took a sip of her drink. "More like, how Eric was when it came to me. He was a big ole turd about how curious she was. He knew she'd rib him about how he felt about me, and instead of being guarded, he took the extreme and shut her out. It didn't take long for us to find our stride though. Maybe one tense week together."

"Pam is enjoying my Sookie related frustrations…"

"Ohhh, then you should be sure to tell Jason she likes it when a guy plays hard to get. He'll turn up the flirt and leave her hanging… and he'll probably ask you for cues. You could have fun with that for at least a week. In fact, you could invite him to hang out with you at Fangtasia a few times."

"Toying with Pam is always fun, but what would 'hanging out' do?"

"Jason will go home with a couple of girls at a time while he's playing hard to get, probably even compete with Pam for a few dates." Brilliant.

"Now that I have plans for next week…"

She giggled, "And playing nice with Sookie's brother _**will not**_ be a bad thing… I've met a few Sookies who were hung up on the idea that being yours meant turning her back on her family. Bill baggage. That whole 'owah wulds ah too di'frunt, Sookeh' bullshit."

I shook my head. "Didn't one of Me already tell you to stop doing that?"

She smiled and said, "_You're not the boss of me_," with a cheeky little wink. "So… your cheat sheet. What do you want to know?"

"You can start by telling me what I'm doing wrong since you seem to know how things have been."

"You aren't doing anything wrong. I've read and re-read the journals and talked to several Sookies. Unless you seriously shit the bed in Jackson, you've played every hand you've been dealt by the book." That's what I was afraid of.

"Shit the bed?"

She snickered and sat back so the waitress could deliver her steak and eggs. "Shit the bed... Like the cook shit the bed. Sorry hon, I don't want to be a bother, but I asked for medium rare and there's no moo left in this bad boy."

The waitress gave her a confused look. "You haven't even cut into it…"

Sookie shrugged and lifted her fork and knife. Sure enough, the steak was closer to 'blackened' than 'medium rare'. "It's not a big deal to me, but the cook's gonna have to refire my whole meal. Don't toss it though. Give it to the hard case that just came in and ordered the soup. His pockets are full of spare change. K?"

I barely waited for the waitress to turn around before I asked, "Why not just show your fangs, Sookie?"

She poked her lip out to pout, "I don't have them yet."

I was just joking about her blatant display, but… "Yet?"

"Eventually… We can't enjoy what the smell of sunlight does to Eric if I can't bring it to him… and you don't need to get your hopes up. Your Sookie might not come around. Eric's not wearing happy pants right now. What are you getting from Sookie?"

"It's faint because of the distance. Depression if I have to guess…"

Her eyes widened and she sat back. "Ahhh… My guess is that she's choking on the list of hints she should have gotten from Compton that would've opened her eyes. Eric's practically a pro at reeducating Sookies. I bet he'll get her… So… you had a moment. What was that?"

"What moment?"

"When I said 'shit the bed in Jackson'. What happened?"

"I think it was the smell of her blood… When she was staked, I wasn't expecting to react the way I did when I gave her my blood to heal her."

"Ooohhh. That was her fault… well not her_ fault_, but it was her."

"Are you going to say she was asking for what happened to her in that trunk too?"

"No, but Gran's hydrangea couldn't have happened to a better asshole… That business in the trunk was just because she smelled like you and you know it." She paused to take another sip of her tea and I used the time to appreciate how much more savvy this Sookie was. I was no less culpable for knocking over the first domino, but this Sookie's eyes were wide open. "No… what I meant was that she smelled like sunlight from walking to and from Janice's salon…. which was only boosted by her good mood and if she danced with Tara like the one My Eric was with, you were a goner before she bled everywhere. Now, My Eric has built up a bit of a tolerance so he was alright… he held off until he got back to Me, but… when I take his blood, we have to make sure the calendar is clear."

"What do you mean? Clear? What happens? It isn't when he feeds from you?"

She put her elbows on the table to lean forward with her eyebrow pitched. "You felt hot… closing your eyes, you could've imagined being in the sun again… her heart felt like it was beating in your chest… her breaths felt like they were filling your lungs… It was impossible for you to sit still. _You felt alive_." Fuck.

"Exactly."

"When I exchange blood with My Eric, we lose hours. As soon as we start, we disappear into one another. He was worried enough about hurting me that he convinced me to record it because we aren't conscious of what happens when we're done… _I know that giant child has a copy of the video on his phone…_ and since he hasn't deleted the part of the journal where I accuse him of hiding it on the memory cards we keep with us, I know he's put it there too. We've gone past 10am… and we started hours before dawn. We can't help it and he can control himself now that he's had practice, but just enough to remember." Unfuckingbelievable.

"But _**you**_ can't control it? How often? What happens?"

She giggled, "I haven't tried to control it. I don't want to fuck with it… We do it as often as possible… What happens is sex that isn't humanly possible or part of any vampiric standard. I don't need breaks. He breathes and sweats…"

"Sweats?"

Her eyes rolled up, making it too fucking obvious that the topic was affecting her like it was me. "His skin beads with blood… his lip and back… we practically glue ourselves together… it doesn't happen to anyone else, just when it's Eric and Sookie… And if I keep thinking about it, he's gonna think you aren't behaving… Pam and I made too many 'if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with' jokes. What were we talking about?"

"I don't remember."

She huffed, "Shit. Me either… Me? Your Sookie. Right?"

I nodded and adjusted my jeans. I was fucked. "Sure."

She fanned herself and cleared her throat. "She's been dealing with Bill. When you get your copy of the journal, pay close attention to September. They started off on the same foot as you guys. I can tell when you're full of shit, but because she lost so much time with Captain Asshole, she's got no gauge. Hopefully, Eric is doing something towards recalibrating her little lie detector."

"She was comparing my thought patterns to his?"

"And because he was oozing lies while pretending to love her…"

"I was fucked."

"And it doesn't help much that his cover of _mainstreaming_ helped that along. He had an excuse to keep her away from other Vampires so she'd stay naïve just as much as keep her to himself. Here's the thing... Bill says, 'I'm here to settle down in my ancestral home'. His mind doesn't change from its usual. His mind is like a concrete mixer full of rocks. Dark, but not black. I took it as truth because Human minds get busier and give themselves away to me. As far as I knew, his mind was a constant. It wasn't until I met the Disco Triples and then asked him to take me to Fangtasia that his mind changed. I associated that sudden blackness with fear because he said he was worried for my safety…"

"Disco Triplets?"

"Malcolm, Dian and Liam."

I snorted, "They were ended in our version… _but that's still funny_."

"They're still kicking in ours and when it's their turn to be scenery at Fangtasia, Pam makes them wear matching lamè outfits… Now when I met Eric, his mind wasn't very dark and still, but it got darker and busy pretty quickly…"

"I wonder why."

"Because he was thinking a mile a minute… turns out, Vampire minds are busy when they're thinking _**and**_ when they're full of shit, but the bullshit meter spikes for a sec during an actual lie. Funny thing was, it was kind of off-putting. Eric's mind was a whole new medium… _someone has a range_. How weird, _right?_ So of course I was a little curious… in one visit with him, I got a sense of when he was curious and amused and flirting…"

"Then why is it My Sookie didn't pick up on that?"

"Because Compton got his hooks into _her_. My first meet with Eric was a couple of hours long. You had two or three short encounters before the Maenad thing… by then, they were sleeping together and he had plenty of time to plant little seeds of distrust in her head. And if things with her are exactly as they were in September's version, she heard you when you summoned her about the missing money."

"My thoughts?"

"Yeah… It only happens once in a while though…" She sat back, smiling at the new plate of food her waitress was delivering. "Much better. Thanks."

The waitress leaned over and asked, "Are you a… Are you a Vampire?"

Sookie giggled and shook her head. "Not with this tan, and Vampires don't eat. I know a few though… Don't worry about your sister. The Vampire she's been seeing is highly unlikely to hurt her physically. You might want to warn her that it's just a fling though."

"What are you, psychic?"

Sookie shrugged and said, "Mind reader," as she lifted her utensils and pointed to her glass. "Can I get a tea refill?"

The waitress made no secret of how stunned she was… she took Sookie's glass and slowly backed away.

Sookie paused before taking a bite of her eggs to say, "Tuna upsets his stomach, so when you make tuna salad you let him drink the water." When the glass slid out of the waitress's hand, Sookie giggled, "Table five is waiting for their sampler too." The waitress practically ran from us and sent a busboy to clean up the broken glass.

I shook my head. "_You're blatant._"

"We're tempering the Human public to the concept of a new group of Supernaturals. On top of the concept of community, we know that my mom put one of Us in a mental ward and we found a telepath whose mom killed herself thinking she was schizophrenic. We have 'agents' everywhere… Pilar in the DC Metro area. Rory in Jackson. Barry in Dallas… Gran was trying to talk Brandon into it last night."

"How do you know that woman's sister is safe?"

"Because her sister is 'dating' a blonde Vampire named Pam that works at a Vampire bar… the sister just so happens to be a track and field coach with long dark hair."

"That's Pam's type."

She wiggled her eyebrows and cooed, "_Jason's too..._ That's how they hooked up in our version. Those hos went trolling as a team."

I shook my head, trying to get back on track. "Brandon?"

"Oh yeah! _My new brother_. My parents split up for a while before I came along. That wasn't ever a secret… When Mom and Dad reconciled, Brandon's mom kept the pregnancy to herself… That jerk knew about us all along and kept to himself so he wouldn't burst our bubbles or whatever. Funny thing is, I met him in a skip first… Eric and I reset and I was about to jump out of my skin for the time it took for Eric to make sure Brandon happened in our version too… Eric comes out of the study and confirms, 'Brandon Rousseau, age 25, 4382 Flint Loop, Apartment B,' and Alcide finishes, 'and one hell of a mechanic. What about him?'."

"Your brother is employed by Herveaux & Son."

She nodded. "He took the job because the other guys in the shop were harder to read at the time. He's got the cutest little girl and she's got the family curse too. Well, for us. He just had a girlfriend in the other version."

"Did Jason have a different father?"

"Nope. He's an empath. Your… well, I guess _Pam's Jason_ doesn't realize he's using it. My Jason hated Compton from the jump, but he was just suspicious of you at first. We've tested him… He's just lazy. For fun, he rides the bar at Fangtasia with Alcide during clinics. He can spot a drainer faster than I can now just because he can tell they're up to something and I have to wait for them to think about it. Your Jason is probably still just using it to get laid."

"Where did the Faerie heritage come in?" I had to assume that another Me might have noticed if the grandmother was two generations more Fae.

"Daddy is where _we_ got it from. He wasn't full Faerie, but the scent was that much stronger on him than it is for us kids. Eric and Gran spent a night in the attic looking through the pictures Gran has. There wasn't a single member of Grandpa's family that looked good enough to be Fae. No telltale pointed ears. No extraordinary accomplishments. Just a long line of redneck farmers with iffy luck with crops. We've got nothing."

"You said the Fae scent was stronger… You met your father in a skip?"

She sighed and nodded. "We knew he was still alive because we'd already met that version before, but they came to us. We tracked the other Us down at family dinner. It was bizarre to see him again since he died when I was so little… I definitely have a new understanding for what other Sookies go through when they see My Gran alive and well. I've been kind of a bitch to them. Not about that, but in general."

"Which version was that?"

"October… we originally called her Fat Sookie, but officially, she's Sookie Merlotte."

"Married? To your boss?"

"Two kids and one on the way… Huge difference though. Gran was the one who died in the flood that killed Her parents instead. Her parents split up and Her mom married Calvin Norris. She was sent to some hospital where She learned to fake being normal so well that She forgot She was a telepath. _No shit_. I thought she was lying at first, but she forgot so well that she hadn't told Sam… the problem was that Sam hadn't told Her about being a Shifter and since She grew up in Hotshot, She didn't think anything of the difference in the minds on the rare occasion Her shields slipped either. The babies were both mind readers and the oldest thinks in Were-red. Jason has a son in that version and that kid's a mind reader too."

"So if you weren't with a Vampire, you would have children who read minds…"

She smiled coyly. "Probably. We'd been wondering about them for a while and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we ran into them again. By the end of the first skip, She was planning to leave Sam… by the next skip She had the baby. It was hell tracking them down though. They were staying at your house on the lake… Oh shit! That reminds me. I have a present for you."

"More than blue balls?"

She giggled, "How about a clairvoyant?"

"A clairvoyant? A psychic?"

"Yes sir… She's an automatic writer. She zones out and draws what comes to her. The Eric and Sookie from September met another telepath in Baton Rouge like your Sookie found Barry. She was nickel and diming Salome's joint to pay her rent. Anyway, Michelle was the telepath whose mother killed herself after being in and out of hospitals for most of her life. That Eric suggested looking for not-so crazy nuts in hospitals. Sookie found Ema in Dallas when they went. Her mind is this über dense crystal formation to me and Hunter until she zones out and does her thing… then it like evaporates and comes back together when she's back. When me or Hunter are around for it, we can see what's in her mind, but it's no different from what she draws. It's isolated. To Eric, everything about her is Human. She's a sweetheart… 18 years old and by the time you call her, she'll already be expecting to hear from you." That would explain what she meant when she told her husband that Bill's death had been drawn by someone.

"How accurate is she?"

"When they got to the hospital, she'd drawn a picture of Eric, holding her portfolio in her hospital room with Sookie and Alcide looking from either side. That's exactly how they were at the time. When we found out about her from that version, we decided to go meet her. Me and Alcide flew into Dallas on the way to Tulsa. She'd drawn me and him with her portfolio, sitting on her bed. She was dead-center accurate down to the water spots on our shirts from the rain."

"Did she suggest you sit on her bed?"

Sookie shook her head. "She didn't lead us... There's only 4 people who know that the last thing you saw before you were made was a horse without a rider under a full moon. _**She drew it**_." **Unfuckingbelievable.**

"She's in Dallas?"

She nodded. "She's been released from the hospital because nothing is wrong with her. So she's living with her parents again. She isn't in the journals because she's just a kid. Considering what Bill was willing to do to get a telepath, we didn't want to risk anything so she's word-of-mouth only. As for Brandon, he's in the journal as a telepath, but his relationship is word-of-mouth. That's not something you tell someone in a letter. 'Surprise, you have a half brother'."

"What else have You found?"

"Not much, but that one circuit in Dallas was enough justification to keep looking. They've been too busy to do a lot… Um… You might want to jump on the chance to get Paulette to replace Bobby. It's only a matter of time before her brother finds work. Call her and say a birdie told you her brother needs a job. My Eric got her for the price of a house and a car…"

"Which I've already offered."

"But she's helping to support her brother's family. Porter's a welder. Poor guy even tried to join the military, but he was told he was too old to enlist. One call to Smythe and you've got an assistant you can trust with Sookie's telepathy and Our Paulette knows about the skips. She's even seen a couple."

"Beautiful… And you've been spending enough time with Paulette to learn about Witches, yes?"

"_Wellllll_… Since she's head over heels for my guard, she hangs around a lot… She's taught me a few things. Just some basics. It's not like I can pause life to phone-a-friend."

"Like separating the gris-gris bags from their contents to cancel the charm, yes?"

She nodded while she chewed. She'd been taking tiny bites so she could chew them quickly enough to keep up with conversation… She _really had_ gotten accustomed to being in the company of Vampires.

"And how do you propose to get rid of Shreveport's infestation of Were-Witches?"

Her eyes studied the ceiling while she finished another mouthful. "Basic binding spell. We don't need anything for that but a roll of crime scene tape and an incantation I know by heart. Then we sneak in and…"

"You sneak in. I need…"

She shook her head and sang, "_They aren't Human_… anyway, then we snap a couple of necks and roll our sweet asses home."

I was close to laughing at the irony. "My Sookie doesn't like killing…"

"I'm not crazy about it either. Notice, all I did was scare the 'Witches' at Fangtasia. Innocent Humans shouldn't have to die when glamouring can fix the problem. Besides, we've already established that _Your Sookie is full of shit_… Your Sookie was raised by a woman who gave my Uncle's address to Eric so he could kill him. **That**, _my dear_, is pure vengeance. I nearly shit when I found out Gran helped."

"Excuse me?"

"Bartlett molested me when I was little. Gran couldn't do any more than estrange us from him because she didn't want to put me through explaining it to police… When Eric found out what he did, she helped him find the asshole. Sookie also killed Lorena in self defense and that's exactly what this is. Killing Marnie and Mark is preemptive, but still a defensive tactic." On top of everything else, she was abused as a child? Wonderful.

"How did he do it?"

"He glamoured him to walk into oncoming traffic. And I'm pretty sure Bill already did the deed. It would be on par."

"Looking like her defender while whittling her family ties."

"You know it."

"What else should I know?"

"Nothing that isn't already covered in the journal… I think the best thing you could do for her safety is have her property warded against ill-will. Paulette can do that for you. Sookie probably won't start to listen to you until you make a couple gestures to reinforce what My Eric is telling her. That's going well, by the way. He's in a better mood. Victorious and cocky are always a good sign."

"I'm not so sure about that. She's feeling confrontational."

"So do I when I can't get a grip on how to feel… Eric compares it to a coiling rattlesnake."

I nodded. "That's a perfect description…"

"And a sign for you to back off. Otherwise she strikes defensively... The way I see it, you have the advantage. She can't play the 'belongs to Bill' card anymore."

"No. She can play the 'grieving my finally-dead ex' card."

She giggled and shook her head, taking another bite of her meal.

"What's so funny?"

She let me sit on pins and needles long enough to take another bite of her food and finish chewing… all the while she stared back at me like she was waiting for me to answer the question for myself. "Do you really think she'll do that? It was pretty fucking clear to me that Eric had already told her what Compton had been up to. Unless she heard me tell Eric that I got to kill a Bill, you're the one who told her he's dead. How many fucks did she give?"

"She can claim shock."

"Do you feel shock, Eric? C'mon. Call her on that shit. Tell her you know better and that it's not fair for her to accuse you of having ulterior motives when she's lying to you. Tell her it bothers you. Hell, admit to the fact that her feelings confuse you as much as your mind confuses her… you two are on as level of a playing field as either of you are going to get…"

"And in the meantime, your 'little chat' with her is going to include what exactly?"

She took her last bite and laid her utensils on the plate, studying the ceiling again while she used chewing as a stall tactic. "I'm not really sure I need to have a talk with her. She's getting a crash course right now and My Eric doesn't make any bones about fixing other Mes. It really gets under his skin when they treat him like shit… If I say anything, I suppose I'll tell her that she needs to get her head out of her ass and stop mind-fucking herself because My Eric makes me happy. Because I'm living the fucking fairy tale that she's pathologically turning her nose up at… and then, I'll tell her to watch the videos and they'll do the rest of the work that can be done."

"You want her to watch the Eric-Sookie porn?"

She snorted, "No… well, _that __**might**__ help_… but there's little confessionals. That's what Pam calls them…"

I knew what she meant without explanation and my eyes rolled. "It's what they call them on Big Brother. Short testimonial videos, yes?"

"Pam makes you watch it too, huh? Anyway, most everyone recorded one… Gran's done several… all it will take to get Sookie to take notice is seeing Gran kiss Eric's cheek to thank him for starting the camera for her. The next thing she'll see is Gran telling her, 'If you're watching this, you probably lost me. All I can do is hope you've had the sense to accept Eric the way he accepts your hard-headed self'."

"Your grandmother is friendly with your husband?"

She smirked and cooed, "_She loves Eric and Pam like she loves her own grandchildren_... But I think you'll be more impressed with the fact that you love her back. You both do."

She was right about that. Impressed, dumbfounded… _both_.

I'd realized how much I'd let myself ignore earlier, but as we made our way across town to tend to our errand, I was up to my chin in hindsight.

Her knowledge of my mind helped Sookie catch me feeling cynical several times. Her answer was to reach over and pinch the underside of my arm and tell me to 'stop that'. As though it was possible to ignore that I could have helped Sookie avoid what she'd gone through for the past few months. I hadn't caused any of it intentionally… who would assume that anything as simple as bullying a Shifter or settling for a fangbanger would have such a huge effect in someone's life…

The product of a simple deviation was in the passenger seat, planning the deaths of the individuals who'd scared her other self out of the country.

It wasn't even close to a matter of haves and have nots… _it wasn't jealousy_...

For all intents and purposes, My Sookie was still just as naïve as she was before Compton waltzed into her life. Meeting Vampires doubled the size of her world, and I was just as guilty of not expanding her knowledge of it as Compton.

My sassy little visitor was strong enough to defend herself against Humans, if not Weres, and she knew our politics inside and out… She'd been exposed to enough Witchcraft to know how to protect herself…

If My Sookie returned to Shreveport, that wasn't going to continue to be the case. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to get a full education for her own safety.

For the most part, I watched Sookie work. She moved quietly around the unassuming house in the Anderson Island neighborhood, wrapping the house with the crime scene tape that had been easier to acquire than I thought… A pair of officers practically gave it to us when they stopped at the diner as we were leaving.

Sookie recited two different chants quietly as she moved to encircle the house… one was to negate any spells already in use and keep anyone within the 'circle' from using magic, the other was to keep anyone inside the 'circle' from exiting.

It inspired me to make another mental note… regardless of timing, if Paulette couldn't be coaxed to Shreveport with a job offer for her brother, I wanted her to help My Sookie learn the same basics. If I had to, I'd send Paulette and her whole fucking family to the Bahamas for a working vacation.

Hearing Sookie explain that the binding was 'weak' because she was 'just a newbie' didn't change my mind… Humans and Weres had attacked My Sookie in her home because they didn't need an invitation. Weak was an improvement on nothing.

As though everything else about Sookie wasn't a slap in the face, she was pragmatic enough to suggest I end the female instead of matching sexes... _Why?_ Because Sookie listened to their thoughts… the bitch's thoughts were 'soupy'… a sign that she was using Vampire blood in enough quantity to practically turn herself.

In three months' time My Sookie could have learned more ins and outs than I could have imagined… instead she'd been left to sit on a razor's edge.

It was impossible to focus on the task at hand until it was time to enter the house and execute the Witches who wanted to take over my Area…

We took advantage of the flimsy door to the mud porch and moved through the dark house quietly.

Sookie was just behind me with her hand on my arm… She only stopped once we reached the end of the hallway, pointing to the bedroom where Marnie was sleeping.

It felt cliché to sneak up on a sleeping victim, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some fun… then again, it might have been because I let her wake up just long enough to see who was about to twist her head from her shoulders.

I'd just tossed her head to the floor when I heard Sookie ask the male what their plans were… When I entered his bedroom, Sookie was straddling his chest with a belt wrapped around his throat. She was interrogating him while he ran out of air, struggling to free himself…

The only answers she was going to get from him were going to have to be reiterated to me later… For close to a minute, Sookie asked one question after another while he hit her legs hard enough that it should have hurt her, but she didn't budge…

Once he was finally unconscious, and no longer able to answer anymore of her questions, she tightened the belt and grinned in my direction. "Do you want to pull his head off too, or should I just finish him off like this?"

"Taking his head off would probably be a good idea for continuity's sake. Did he scratch you at all?"

"No. Nothing under his nails."

She backed off the bed to make room for me and slipped her hand into my pocket to borrow my phone.

I'd expected her to leave the room to avoid the scene, but she leaned against the door jamb and made a call instead. She didn't look away. She didn't show any reaction to the sounds…

She was more bothered by the unanswered call she made and huffed as she called a second number.

Sookie walked into the bathroom and turned the water on so I could wash the blood from my hands and was squirting liquid soap for me when the call was finally answered…

"Merlotte's."

"Hey Sam, is Holly working tonight? She didn't answer her cell."

"Yeah. Is everything alright?"

"Fine. Let me talk to her."

"You don't sound 'fine'."

"I'm getting pissed over the third degree if that's what you mean."

"Are you… Nevermind. I'll get her."

Sookie rolled her eyes and used a rag to wipe her fingerprints from the faucet and soap bottle and wandered out of the room… she paid no attention to the mess that used to be Mark Stonebrook as she wiped down the belt's buckle.

When she caught me watching her, she shrugged and mumbled, "Once you've had to use your fingernails to dig silver-leaf out of a tortured Vampire, a person's gore tolerance tends to get higher."

"So it seems. Who was silver-leaf used on?"

"Ferrell. Did you not see him pulled out of his cell?"

"I wasn't there… I was with Sookie."

She nodded. "Eric and I exchanged Bill and Lorena for him. I was the only Human with them. I did my best to clean him up while we took him home since he was still unconscious…" I followed as she left the room and entered Marnie's. She used the rag to grab a purse and dump its contents on the bed, declaring 'eureka' and snatching a cell phone from the jumble just in time for Holly to answer…

"Sook?"

"Hey Holly… I've got a question for ya."

"Um… Okay… shoot."

"That coven you were bullied into joining… Other than Marnie and Mark, were there any other ringleaders?"

"What?"

"Holly, I love you to death so don't insult my intelligence by playing dumb. It was the only thing on your mind when I saw you the other day. You know I'm a mind reader, now answer the question."

"_Um… not really ringleaders…_ Bridget and Giles are more like… um… _lackeys_."

"Bridget and Giles? Are you kidding me?"

"No. Why?"

Sookie huffed, "Because Bridget Bishop and Giles Corey were executed during the Salem Witch Trials."

Her friend gasped, "You think they're possessed by dead Witches!?" _Seriously? Why didn't an alleged Witch know better?_

"No. I think they weren't very creative with their aliases. They might as well have used Glenda and Oz. Hallow didn't channel the 'wolf-mother' either, jackass. She was an actual Werewolf… Anyone else?"

"No… the rest of the people I saw at her meetings were just as scared to be there as me… Did you say she 'was' a Werewolf? Did you kill the wolf that bit her?"

Sookie's eyes rolled for longer than mine did. "Holly, do yourself a fucking favor and just be a tree-hugging agnostic. You know jackshit about Supes."

I whispered, "_Awww... does that mean I won't get my ruby slippers for killing a Witch?_"

Sookie covered the phone to snicker while her friend rattled, "Don't go messing with her. She's crazy. She'll kill you…"

"Not likely… I'm going to need the names of everyone in the coven."

"Sookie…"

Sookie hissed, "Holly, if you don't tell me now, you'll tell me when I come down there and pluck each and every name out of your mind in person…"

Holly had just finished rattling off a list of 'Witches' when Sam took the phone from her to ask Sookie 'what the hell' Vampires were dragging her into 'this time'… Sookie shook her head and told him that the only reason she was saying anything was to make it clear that she was hanging up on him.

She crouched down on the floor to take a picture of Marnie's head with her own phone and then used the contacts already in the phone to send it to each of the coven members with a short message: "Game over."

Then she wiped the phone with the rag, leaving it on a dresser on her way by and leading the way to the kitchen to take a large cookbook from the counter and leave through the back door. She even thought to take the rag and the crime scene tape with us.

As soon as we were in my car again, she explained that the Witch had been planning to take over my Area by capturing me and using my blood to strengthen herself… The Stonebrooks had been in my Area long enough to gather information about Long Tooth Pack and make killing its Lieutenants to leverage Flood to assist her part of their plans…

I argued that the mysterious spell Mark thought about was unlikely to make me willing to cooperate, but as Sookie leafed through the spellbook I'd mistaken for a cookbook, she found a spell titled 'Devotion' that made her borrow my cell again… this time to dial Paulette…

After we explained some of the details, Paulette doubted the spell meant to give Marnie control over me would work… Given my age and strength, Paulette jokingly suggested that I'd 'beat feet' to who I was _actually_ devoted to… and then just as jokingly said that Pam should never know that I could have been her puppet.

Right.

_Pam._

All Sookie had to do was look at me to let me know she was fully aware that I'd have inexplicably found myself in Bon Temps…


	5. Chapter 5

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 5**

**Ding Dong**

Sookie barely had the chance to order a steak and egg platter and sweet tea before my cell phone rang.

I groaned as I pulled it out of my pocket. "Did we forget something, Pam?"

"Tell me again why I can't join you? You're hogging a Sookie that isn't even yours." Brat.

"Because you need an alibi."

"And what is yours?" Sookie and I are currently in the Bahamas.

"I'm responding to a call from Sookie about a mysterious puddle in her drivew-"

"Bullshit."

"Pam, if something happens, then you are to call Paulette and come up with a plan B."

"I'm second string?"

"We've covered this. Your feelings are hurt. I'm sure you've already treated your melancholy with a virtual visit to Saks…"

Sookie bit her lip and reached under the table. It took feeling her foot slide along my inner thigh to realize I'd heard her shoe hit the floor. Her eyes locked on mine, her foot teasing it's way to my cock and once she was sure she'd done enough damage, she whimpered, "Eric, get off the phone…"

Pam practically exploded, "I'm being excluded from this outing so you can make a pit stop to fuck!?"

"Pam…"

"That's. Just. Beautiful. Whatever!" She hung up and Sookie started giggling, immediately taking her foot back to replace her shoe.

I shook my head. "You might not be as amused if you knew how pissed she is right now." Or how hard I was. _All it took was her foot?_

"But… _She isn't hurt by thinking you've replaced her as your partner in crime_. She thinks with her cock more than you do, so she'll forgive you once her shipment of Fendis arrive."

"You seem pretty sure of that."

"_Awww, c'mon_. As long as she's been with you, she's still waiting to find something better. You're everything to her and the only thing she couldn't stand is if you forgot that. She's got it good and she knows it."

"Did your Pam tell you that or is this one of the things you've picked up on?"

She grinned and thanked the waitress for her drink before she answered, "Both… and I can draw an instruction manual for your brains... Our Pam hated me at first."

"Hated you?" Impossible. Sookie Stackhouse was the best thing since Big Brother as far as Pam was concerned.

She nodded while she took a sip of her drink. "More like, how Eric was when it came to me. He was a big ole turd about how curious she was. He knew she'd rib him about how he felt about me, and instead of being guarded, he took the extreme and shut her out. It didn't take long for us to find our stride though. Maybe one tense week together."

"Pam is enjoying my Sookie related frustrations…"

"Ohhh, then you should be sure to tell Jason she likes it when a guy plays hard to get. He'll turn up the flirt and leave her hanging… and he'll probably ask you for cues. You could have fun with that for at least a week. In fact, you could invite him to hang out with you at Fangtasia a few times."

"Toying with Pam is always fun, but what would 'hanging out' do?"

"Jason will go home with a couple of girls at a time while he's playing hard to get, probably even compete with Pam for a few dates." Brilliant.

"Now that I have plans for next week…"

She giggled, "And playing nice with Sookie's brother _**will not**_ be a bad thing… I've met a few Sookies who were hung up on the idea that being yours meant turning her back on her family. Bill baggage. That whole 'owah wulds ah too di'frunt, Sookeh' bullshit."

I shook my head. "Didn't one of Me already tell you to stop doing that?"

She smiled and said, "_You're not the boss of me_," with a cheeky little wink. "So… your cheat sheet. What do you want to know?"

"You can start by telling me what I'm doing wrong since you seem to know how things have been."

"You aren't doing anything wrong. I've read and re-read the journals and talked to several Sookies. Unless you seriously shit the bed in Jackson, you've played every hand you've been dealt by the book." That's what I was afraid of.

"Shit the bed?"

She snickered and sat back so the waitress could deliver her steak and eggs. "Shit the bed... Like the cook shit the bed. Sorry hon, I don't want to be a bother, but I asked for medium rare and there's no moo left in this bad boy."

The waitress gave her a confused look. "You haven't even cut into it…"

Sookie shrugged and lifted her fork and knife. Sure enough, the steak was closer to 'blackened' than 'medium rare'. "It's not a big deal to me, but the cook's gonna have to refire my whole meal. Don't toss it though. Give it to the hard case that just came in and ordered the soup. His pockets are full of spare change. K?"

I barely waited for the waitress to turn around before I asked, "Why not just show your fangs, Sookie?"

She poked her lip out to pout, "I don't have them yet."

I was just joking about her blatant display, but… "Yet?"

"Eventually… We can't enjoy what the smell of sunlight does to Eric if I can't bring it to him… and you don't need to get your hopes up. Your Sookie might not come around. Eric's not wearing happy pants right now. What are you getting from Sookie?"

"It's faint because of the distance. Depression if I have to guess…"

Her eyes widened and she sat back. "Ahhh… My guess is that she's choking on the list of hints she should have gotten from Compton that would've opened her eyes. Eric's practically a pro at reeducating Sookies. I bet he'll get her… So… you had a moment. What was that?"

"What moment?"

"When I said 'shit the bed in Jackson'. What happened?"

"I think it was the smell of her blood… When she was staked, I wasn't expecting to react the way I did when I gave her my blood to heal her."

"Ooohhh. That was her fault… well not her_ fault_, but it was her."

"Are you going to say she was asking for what happened to her in that trunk too?"

"No, but Gran's hydrangea couldn't have happened to a better asshole… That business in the trunk was just because she smelled like you and you know it." She paused to take another sip of her tea and I used the time to appreciate how much more savvy this Sookie was. I was no less culpable for knocking over the first domino, but this Sookie's eyes were wide open. "No… what I meant was that she smelled like sunlight from walking to and from Janice's salon…. which was only boosted by her good mood and if she danced with Tara like the one My Eric was with, you were a goner before she bled everywhere. Now, My Eric has built up a bit of a tolerance so he was alright… he held off until he got back to Me, but… when I take his blood, we have to make sure the calendar is clear."

"What do you mean? Clear? What happens? It isn't when he feeds from you?"

She put her elbows on the table to lean forward with her eyebrow pitched. "You felt hot… closing your eyes, you could've imagined being in the sun again… her heart felt like it was beating in your chest… her breaths felt like they were filling your lungs… It was impossible for you to sit still. _You felt alive_." Fuck.

"Exactly."

"When I exchange blood with My Eric, we lose hours. As soon as we start, we disappear into one another. He was worried enough about hurting me that he convinced me to record it because we aren't conscious of what happens when we're done… _I know that giant child has a copy of the video on his phone…_ and since he hasn't deleted the part of the journal where I accuse him of hiding it on the memory cards we keep with us, I know he's put it there too. We've gone past 10am… and we started hours before dawn. We can't help it and he can control himself now that he's had practice, but just enough to remember." Unfuckingbelievable.

"But _**you**_ can't control it? How often? What happens?"

She giggled, "I haven't tried to control it. I don't want to fuck with it… We do it as often as possible… What happens is sex that isn't humanly possible or part of any vampiric standard. I don't need breaks. He breathes and sweats…"

"Sweats?"

Her eyes rolled up, making it too fucking obvious that the topic was affecting her like it was me. "His skin beads with blood… his lip and back… we practically glue ourselves together… it doesn't happen to anyone else, just when it's Eric and Sookie… And if I keep thinking about it, he's gonna think you aren't behaving… Pam and I made too many 'if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with' jokes. What were we talking about?"

"I don't remember."

She huffed, "Shit. Me either… Me? Your Sookie. Right?"

I nodded and adjusted my jeans. I was fucked. "Sure."

She fanned herself and cleared her throat. "She's been dealing with Bill. When you get your copy of the journal, pay close attention to September. They started off on the same foot as you guys. I can tell when you're full of shit, but because she lost so much time with Captain Asshole, she's got no gauge. Hopefully, Eric is doing something towards recalibrating her little lie detector."

"She was comparing my thought patterns to his?"

"And because he was oozing lies while pretending to love her…"

"I was fucked."

"And it doesn't help much that his cover of _mainstreaming_ helped that along. He had an excuse to keep her away from other Vampires so she'd stay naïve just as much as keep her to himself. Here's the thing... Bill says, 'I'm here to settle down in my ancestral home'. His mind doesn't change from its usual. His mind is like a concrete mixer full of rocks. Dark, but not black. I took it as truth because Human minds get busier and give themselves away to me. As far as I knew, his mind was a constant. It wasn't until I met the Disco Triples and then asked him to take me to Fangtasia that his mind changed. I associated that sudden blackness with fear because he said he was worried for my safety…"

"Disco Triplets?"

"Malcolm, Dian and Liam."

I snorted, "They were ended in our version… _but that's still funny_."

"They're still kicking in ours and when it's their turn to be scenery at Fangtasia, Pam makes them wear matching lamè outfits… Now when I met Eric, his mind wasn't very dark and still, but it got darker and busy pretty quickly…"

"I wonder why."

"Because he was thinking a mile a minute… turns out, Vampire minds are busy when they're thinking _**and**_ when they're full of shit, but the bullshit meter spikes for a sec during an actual lie. Funny thing was, it was kind of off-putting. Eric's mind was a whole new medium… _someone has a range_. How weird, _right?_ So of course I was a little curious… in one visit with him, I got a sense of when he was curious and amused and flirting…"

"Then why is it My Sookie didn't pick up on that?"

"Because Compton got his hooks into _her_. My first meet with Eric was a couple of hours long. You had two or three short encounters before the Maenad thing… by then, they were sleeping together and he had plenty of time to plant little seeds of distrust in her head. And if things with her are exactly as they were in September's version, she heard you when you summoned her about the missing money."

"My thoughts?"

"Yeah… It only happens once in a while though…" She sat back, smiling at the new plate of food her waitress was delivering. "Much better. Thanks."

The waitress leaned over and asked, "Are you a… Are you a Vampire?"

Sookie giggled and shook her head. "Not with this tan, and Vampires don't eat. I know a few though… Don't worry about your sister. The Vampire she's been seeing is highly unlikely to hurt her physically. You might want to warn her that it's just a fling though."

"What are you, psychic?"

Sookie shrugged and said, "Mind reader," as she lifted her utensils and pointed to her glass. "Can I get a tea refill?"

The waitress made no secret of how stunned she was… she took Sookie's glass and slowly backed away.

Sookie paused before taking a bite of her eggs to say, "Tuna upsets his stomach, so when you make tuna salad you let him drink the water." When the glass slid out of the waitress's hand, Sookie giggled, "Table five is waiting for their sampler too." The waitress practically ran from us and sent a busboy to clean up the broken glass.

I shook my head. "_You're blatant._"

"We're tempering the Human public to the concept of a new group of Supernaturals. On top of the concept of community, we know that my mom put one of Us in a mental ward and we found a telepath whose mom killed herself thinking she was schizophrenic. We have 'agents' everywhere… Pilar in the DC Metro area. Rory in Jackson. Barry in Dallas… Gran was trying to talk Brandon into it last night."

"How do you know that woman's sister is safe?"

"Because her sister is 'dating' a blonde Vampire named Pam that works at a Vampire bar… the sister just so happens to be a track and field coach with long dark hair."

"That's Pam's type."

She wiggled her eyebrows and cooed, "_Jason's too..._ That's how they hooked up in our version. Those hos went trolling as a team."

I shook my head, trying to get back on track. "Brandon?"

"Oh yeah! _My new brother_. My parents split up for a while before I came along. That wasn't ever a secret… When Mom and Dad reconciled, Brandon's mom kept the pregnancy to herself… That jerk knew about us all along and kept to himself so he wouldn't burst our bubbles or whatever. Funny thing is, I met him in a skip first… Eric and I reset and I was about to jump out of my skin for the time it took for Eric to make sure Brandon happened in our version too… Eric comes out of the study and confirms, 'Brandon Rousseau, age 25, 4382 Flint Loop, Apartment B,' and Alcide finishes, 'and one hell of a mechanic. What about him?'."

"Your brother is employed by Herveaux & Son."

She nodded. "He took the job because the other guys in the shop were harder to read at the time. He's got the cutest little girl and she's got the family curse too. Well, for us. He just had a girlfriend in the other version."

"Did Jason have a different father?"

"Nope. He's an empath. Your… well, I guess _Pam's Jason_ doesn't realize he's using it. My Jason hated Compton from the jump, but he was just suspicious of you at first. We've tested him… He's just lazy. For fun, he rides the bar at Fangtasia with Alcide during clinics. He can spot a drainer faster than I can now just because he can tell they're up to something and I have to wait for them to think about it. Your Jason is probably still just using it to get laid."

"Where did the Faerie heritage come in?" I had to assume that another Me might have noticed if the grandmother was two generations more Fae.

"Daddy is where _we_ got it from. He wasn't full Faerie, but the scent was that much stronger on him than it is for us kids. Eric and Gran spent a night in the attic looking through the pictures Gran has. There wasn't a single member of Grandpa's family that looked good enough to be Fae. No telltale pointed ears. No extraordinary accomplishments. Just a long line of redneck farmers with iffy luck with crops. We've got nothing."

"You said the Fae scent was stronger… You met your father in a skip?"

She sighed and nodded. "We knew he was still alive because we'd already met that version before, but they came to us. We tracked the other Us down at family dinner. It was bizarre to see him again since he died when I was so little… I definitely have a new understanding for what other Sookies go through when they see My Gran alive and well. I've been kind of a bitch to them. Not about that, but in general."

"Which version was that?"

"October… we originally called her Fat Sookie, but officially, she's Sookie Merlotte."

"Married? To your boss?"

"Two kids and one on the way… Huge difference though. Gran was the one who died in the flood that killed Her parents instead. Her parents split up and Her mom married Calvin Norris. She was sent to some hospital where She learned to fake being normal so well that She forgot She was a telepath. _No shit_. I thought she was lying at first, but she forgot so well that she hadn't told Sam… the problem was that Sam hadn't told Her about being a Shifter and since She grew up in Hotshot, She didn't think anything of the difference in the minds on the rare occasion Her shields slipped either. The babies were both mind readers and the oldest thinks in Were-red. Jason has a son in that version and that kid's a mind reader too."

"So if you weren't with a Vampire, you would have children who read minds…"

She smiled coyly. "Probably. We'd been wondering about them for a while and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we ran into them again. By the end of the first skip, She was planning to leave Sam… by the next skip She had the baby. It was hell tracking them down though. They were staying at your house on the lake… Oh shit! That reminds me. I have a present for you."

"More than blue balls?"

She giggled, "How about a clairvoyant?"

"A clairvoyant? A psychic?"

"Yes sir… She's an automatic writer. She zones out and draws what comes to her. The Eric and Sookie from September met another telepath in Baton Rouge like your Sookie found Barry. She was nickel and diming Salome's joint to pay her rent. Anyway, Michelle was the telepath whose mother killed herself after being in and out of hospitals for most of her life. That Eric suggested looking for not-so crazy nuts in hospitals. Sookie found Ema in Dallas when they went. Her mind is this über dense crystal formation to me and Hunter until she zones out and does her thing… then it like evaporates and comes back together when she's back. When me or Hunter are around for it, we can see what's in her mind, but it's no different from what she draws. It's isolated. To Eric, everything about her is Human. She's a sweetheart… 18 years old and by the time you call her, she'll already be expecting to hear from you." That would explain what she meant when she told her husband that Bill's death had been drawn by someone.

"How accurate is she?"

"When they got to the hospital, she'd drawn a picture of Eric, holding her portfolio in her hospital room with Sookie and Alcide looking from either side. That's exactly how they were at the time. When we found out about her from that version, we decided to go meet her. Me and Alcide flew into Dallas on the way to Tulsa. She'd drawn me and him with her portfolio, sitting on her bed. She was dead-center accurate down to the water spots on our shirts from the rain."

"Did she suggest you sit on her bed?"

Sookie shook her head. "She didn't lead us... There's only 4 people who know that the last thing you saw before you were made was a horse without a rider under a full moon. _**She drew it**_." **Unfuckingbelievable.**

"She's in Dallas?"

She nodded. "She's been released from the hospital because nothing is wrong with her. So she's living with her parents again. She isn't in the journals because she's just a kid. Considering what Bill was willing to do to get a telepath, we didn't want to risk anything so she's word-of-mouth only. As for Brandon, he's in the journal as a telepath, but his relationship is word-of-mouth. That's not something you tell someone in a letter. 'Surprise, you have a half brother'."

"What else have You found?"

"Not much, but that one circuit in Dallas was enough justification to keep looking. They've been too busy to do a lot… Um… You might want to jump on the chance to get Paulette to replace Bobby. It's only a matter of time before her brother finds work. Call her and say a birdie told you her brother needs a job. My Eric got her for the price of a house and a car…"

"Which I've already offered."

"But she's helping to support her brother's family. Porter's a welder. Poor guy even tried to join the military, but he was told he was too old to enlist. One call to Smythe and you've got an assistant you can trust with Sookie's telepathy and Our Paulette knows about the skips. She's even seen a couple."

"Beautiful… And you've been spending enough time with Paulette to learn about Witches, yes?"

"_Wellllll_… Since she's head over heels for my guard, she hangs around a lot… She's taught me a few things. Just some basics. It's not like I can pause life to phone-a-friend."

"Like separating the gris-gris bags from their contents to cancel the charm, yes?"

She nodded while she chewed. She'd been taking tiny bites so she could chew them quickly enough to keep up with conversation… She _really had_ gotten accustomed to being in the company of Vampires.

"And how do you propose to get rid of Shreveport's infestation of Were-Witches?"

Her eyes studied the ceiling while she finished another mouthful. "Basic binding spell. We don't need anything for that but a roll of crime scene tape and an incantation I know by heart. Then we sneak in and…"

"You sneak in. I need…"

She shook her head and sang, "_They aren't Human_… anyway, then we snap a couple of necks and roll our sweet asses home."

I was close to laughing at the irony. "My Sookie doesn't like killing…"

"I'm not crazy about it either. Notice, all I did was scare the 'Witches' at Fangtasia. Innocent Humans shouldn't have to die when glamouring can fix the problem. Besides, we've already established that _Your Sookie is full of shit_… Your Sookie was raised by a woman who gave my Uncle's address to Eric so he could kill him. **That**, _my dear_, is pure vengeance. I nearly shit when I found out Gran helped."

"Excuse me?"

"Bartlett molested me when I was little. Gran couldn't do any more than estrange us from him because she didn't want to put me through explaining it to police… When Eric found out what he did, she helped him find the asshole. Sookie also killed Lorena in self defense and that's exactly what this is. Killing Marnie and Mark is preemptive, but still a defensive tactic." On top of everything else, she was abused as a child? Wonderful.

"How did he do it?"

"He glamoured him to walk into oncoming traffic. And I'm pretty sure Bill already did the deed. It would be on par."

"Looking like her defender while whittling her family ties."

"You know it."

"What else should I know?"

"Nothing that isn't already covered in the journal… I think the best thing you could do for her safety is have her property warded against ill-will. Paulette can do that for you. Sookie probably won't start to listen to you until you make a couple gestures to reinforce what My Eric is telling her. That's going well, by the way. He's in a better mood. Victorious and cocky are always a good sign."

"I'm not so sure about that. She's feeling confrontational."

"So do I when I can't get a grip on how to feel… Eric compares it to a coiling rattlesnake."

I nodded. "That's a perfect description…"

"And a sign for you to back off. Otherwise she strikes defensively... The way I see it, you have the advantage. She can't play the 'belongs to Bill' card anymore."

"No. She can play the 'grieving my finally-dead ex' card."

She giggled and shook her head, taking another bite of her meal.

"What's so funny?"

She let me sit on pins and needles long enough to take another bite of her food and finish chewing… all the while she stared back at me like she was waiting for me to answer the question for myself. "Do you really think she'll do that? It was pretty fucking clear to me that Eric had already told her what Compton had been up to. Unless she heard me tell Eric that I got to kill a Bill, you're the one who told her he's dead. How many fucks did she give?"

"She can claim shock."

"Do you feel shock, Eric? C'mon. Call her on that shit. Tell her you know better and that it's not fair for her to accuse you of having ulterior motives when she's lying to you. Tell her it bothers you. Hell, admit to the fact that her feelings confuse you as much as your mind confuses her… you two are on as level of a playing field as either of you are going to get…"

"And in the meantime, your 'little chat' with her is going to include what exactly?"

She took her last bite and laid her utensils on the plate, studying the ceiling again while she used chewing as a stall tactic. "I'm not really sure I need to have a talk with her. She's getting a crash course right now and My Eric doesn't make any bones about fixing other Mes. It really gets under his skin when they treat him like shit… If I say anything, I suppose I'll tell her that she needs to get her head out of her ass and stop mind-fucking herself because My Eric makes me happy. Because I'm living the fucking fairy tale that she's pathologically turning her nose up at… and then, I'll tell her to watch the videos and they'll do the rest of the work that can be done."

"You want her to watch the Eric-Sookie porn?"

She snorted, "No… well, _that __**might**__ help_… but there's little confessionals. That's what Pam calls them…"

I knew what she meant without explanation and my eyes rolled. "It's what they call them on Big Brother. Short testimonial videos, yes?"

"Pam makes you watch it too, huh? Anyway, most everyone recorded one… Gran's done several… all it will take to get Sookie to take notice is seeing Gran kiss Eric's cheek to thank him for starting the camera for her. The next thing she'll see is Gran telling her, 'If you're watching this, you probably lost me. All I can do is hope you've had the sense to accept Eric the way he accepts your hard-headed self'."

"Your grandmother is friendly with your husband?"

She smirked and cooed, "_She loves Eric and Pam like she loves her own grandchildren_... But I think you'll be more impressed with the fact that you love her back. You both do."

She was right about that. Impressed, dumbfounded… _both_.

I'd realized how much I'd let myself ignore earlier, but as we made our way across town to tend to our errand, I was up to my chin in hindsight.

Her knowledge of my mind helped Sookie catch me feeling cynical several times. Her answer was to reach over and pinch the underside of my arm and tell me to 'stop that'. As though it was possible to ignore that I could have helped Sookie avoid what she'd gone through for the past few months. I hadn't caused any of it intentionally… who would assume that anything as simple as bullying a Shifter or settling for a fangbanger would have such a huge effect in someone's life…

The product of a simple deviation was in the passenger seat, planning the deaths of the individuals who'd scared her other self out of the country.

It wasn't even close to a matter of haves and have nots… _it wasn't jealousy_...

For all intents and purposes, My Sookie was still just as naïve as she was before Compton waltzed into her life. Meeting Vampires doubled the size of her world, and I was just as guilty of not expanding her knowledge of it as Compton.

My sassy little visitor was strong enough to defend herself against Humans, if not Weres, and she knew our politics inside and out… She'd been exposed to enough Witchcraft to know how to protect herself…

If My Sookie returned to Shreveport, that wasn't going to continue to be the case. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to get a full education for her own safety.

For the most part, I watched Sookie work. She moved quietly around the unassuming house in the Anderson Island neighborhood, wrapping the house with the crime scene tape that had been easier to acquire than I thought… A pair of officers practically gave it to us when they stopped at the diner as we were leaving.

Sookie recited two different chants quietly as she moved to encircle the house… one was to negate any spells already in use and keep anyone within the 'circle' from using magic, the other was to keep anyone inside the 'circle' from exiting.

It inspired me to make another mental note… regardless of timing, if Paulette couldn't be coaxed to Shreveport with a job offer for her brother, I wanted her to help My Sookie learn the same basics. If I had to, I'd send Paulette and her whole fucking family to the Bahamas for a working vacation.

Hearing Sookie explain that the binding was 'weak' because she was 'just a newbie' didn't change my mind… Humans and Weres had attacked My Sookie in her home because they didn't need an invitation. Weak was an improvement on nothing.

As though everything else about Sookie wasn't a slap in the face, she was pragmatic enough to suggest I end the female instead of matching sexes... _Why?_ Because Sookie listened to their thoughts… the bitch's thoughts were 'soupy'… a sign that she was using Vampire blood in enough quantity to practically turn herself.

In three months' time My Sookie could have learned more ins and outs than I could have imagined… instead she'd been left to sit on a razor's edge.

It was impossible to focus on the task at hand until it was time to enter the house and execute the Witches who wanted to take over my Area…

We took advantage of the flimsy door to the mud porch and moved through the dark house quietly.

Sookie was just behind me with her hand on my arm… She only stopped once we reached the end of the hallway, pointing to the bedroom where Marnie was sleeping.

It felt cliché to sneak up on a sleeping victim, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some fun… then again, it might have been because I let her wake up just long enough to see who was about to twist her head from her shoulders.

I'd just tossed her head to the floor when I heard Sookie ask the male what their plans were… When I entered his bedroom, Sookie was straddling his chest with a belt wrapped around his throat. She was interrogating him while he ran out of air, struggling to free himself…

The only answers she was going to get from him were going to have to be reiterated to me later… For close to a minute, Sookie asked one question after another while he hit her legs hard enough that it should have hurt her, but she didn't budge…

Once he was finally unconscious, and no longer able to answer anymore of her questions, she tightened the belt and grinned in my direction. "Do you want to pull his head off too, or should I just finish him off like this?"

"Taking his head off would probably be a good idea for continuity's sake. Did he scratch you at all?"

"No. Nothing under his nails."

She backed off the bed to make room for me and slipped her hand into my pocket to borrow my phone.

I'd expected her to leave the room to avoid the scene, but she leaned against the door jamb and made a call instead. She didn't look away. She didn't show any reaction to the sounds…

She was more bothered by the unanswered call she made and huffed as she called a second number.

Sookie walked into the bathroom and turned the water on so I could wash the blood from my hands and was squirting liquid soap for me when the call was finally answered…

"Merlotte's."

"Hey Sam, is Holly working tonight? She didn't answer her cell."

"Yeah. Is everything alright?"

"Fine. Let me talk to her."

"You don't sound 'fine'."

"I'm getting pissed over the third degree if that's what you mean."

"Are you… Nevermind. I'll get her."

Sookie rolled her eyes and used a rag to wipe her fingerprints from the faucet and soap bottle and wandered out of the room… she paid no attention to the mess that used to be Mark Stonebrook as she wiped down the belt's buckle.

When she caught me watching her, she shrugged and mumbled, "Once you've had to use your fingernails to dig silver-leaf out of a tortured Vampire, a person's gore tolerance tends to get higher."

"So it seems. Who was silver-leaf used on?"

"Ferrell. Did you not see him pulled out of his cell?"

"I wasn't there… I was with Sookie."

She nodded. "Eric and I exchanged Bill and Lorena for him. I was the only Human with them. I did my best to clean him up while we took him home since he was still unconscious…" I followed as she left the room and entered Marnie's. She used the rag to grab a purse and dump its contents on the bed, declaring 'eureka' and snatching a cell phone from the jumble just in time for Holly to answer…

"Sook?"

"Hey Holly… I've got a question for ya."

"Um… Okay… shoot."

"That coven you were bullied into joining… Other than Marnie and Mark, were there any other ringleaders?"

"What?"

"Holly, I love you to death so don't insult my intelligence by playing dumb. It was the only thing on your mind when I saw you the other day. You know I'm a mind reader, now answer the question."

"_Um… not really ringleaders…_ Bridget and Giles are more like… um… _lackeys_."

"Bridget and Giles? Are you kidding me?"

"No. Why?"

Sookie huffed, "Because Bridget Bishop and Giles Corey were executed during the Salem Witch Trials."

Her friend gasped, "You think they're possessed by dead Witches!?" _Seriously? Why didn't an alleged Witch know better?_

"No. I think they weren't very creative with their aliases. They might as well have used Glenda and Oz. Hallow didn't channel the 'wolf-mother' either, jackass. She was an actual Werewolf… Anyone else?"

"No… the rest of the people I saw at her meetings were just as scared to be there as me… Did you say she 'was' a Werewolf? Did you kill the wolf that bit her?"

Sookie's eyes rolled for longer than mine did. "Holly, do yourself a fucking favor and just be a tree-hugging agnostic. You know jackshit about Supes."

I whispered, "_Awww... does that mean I won't get my ruby slippers for killing a Witch?_"

Sookie covered the phone to snicker while her friend rattled, "Don't go messing with her. She's crazy. She'll kill you…"

"Not likely… I'm going to need the names of everyone in the coven."

"Sookie…"

Sookie hissed, "Holly, if you don't tell me now, you'll tell me when I come down there and pluck each and every name out of your mind in person…"

Holly had just finished rattling off a list of 'Witches' when Sam took the phone from her to ask Sookie 'what the hell' Vampires were dragging her into 'this time'… Sookie shook her head and told him that the only reason she was saying anything was to make it clear that she was hanging up on him.

She crouched down on the floor to take a picture of Marnie's head with her own phone and then used the contacts already in the phone to send it to each of the coven members with a short message: "Game over."

Then she wiped the phone with the rag, leaving it on a dresser on her way by and leading the way to the kitchen to take a large cookbook from the counter and leave through the back door. She even thought to take the rag and the crime scene tape with us.

As soon as we were in my car again, she explained that the Witch had been planning to take over my Area by capturing me and using my blood to strengthen herself… The Stonebrooks had been in my Area long enough to gather information about Long Tooth Pack and make killing its Lieutenants to leverage Flood to assist her part of their plans…

I argued that the mysterious spell Mark thought about was unlikely to make me willing to cooperate, but as Sookie leafed through the spellbook I'd mistaken for a cookbook, she found a spell titled 'Devotion' that made her borrow my cell again… this time to dial Paulette…

After we explained some of the details, Paulette doubted the spell meant to give Marnie control over me would work… Given my age and strength, Paulette jokingly suggested that I'd 'beat feet' to who I was _actually_ devoted to… and then just as jokingly said that Pam should never know that I could have been her puppet.

Right.

_Pam._

All Sookie had to do was look at me to let me know she was fully aware that I'd have inexplicably found myself in Bon Temps…


	6. Chapter 6

**Couldn't Get Away**

**Chapter 6**

**Sweet Dreams**

Once back at my house, Sookie followed me down to my room, making herself at home enough to stir some sulking on my part… My Sookie would have been on edge in my driveway which was why I'd only ever called her to Fangtasia. Sure, Compton could have followed his blood to find my resting place, but it would have given me an excuse to end him earlier.

While I went to shower, she sat at my desk to begin scanning the spellbook so she could take digital copies to Her Paulette… Marnie and Mark were still an active possibility in their version of life.

By the time I was turning off the water, Sookie was explaining everything to Pam in detail… I should have known Pam wouldn't have waited for her update, but I was allowed to be surprised with how casual Sookie was with her…

It was another reason to sulk. I was sure that I'd never seen My Sookie interacting as happily with Compton and she supposedly loved him. For that matter, My Sookie would've been on edge because she wouldn't have known Pam's tension was from being deprived information.

I dressed at my closet while Sookie explained Paulette's theory about the spells and as she finished, she went to my dresser to take one of my undershirts and a pair of my boxers so she could take a shower.

Pam sat on the corner of my bed and gave me 'that look' until I told her, "Go ahead. I know you have something to say."

"Seriously, when did this happen? That IS NOT the same Sookie." She didn't have to tell me that.

Sookie snickered from the shower, "You might as well tell her. Ours knows."

I spent the next ten minutes explaining the bizarre phenomenon of skipping to Pam with Sookie's occasional help from the bathroom (thanks to her impressive hearing). By the time I was done, Pam was bored.

She shook her head and huffed, "How long have you two been working on that?" That was more sedate than the reaction I expected.

Sookie giggled as she emerged from the bathroom, "Since the first time I walked into Fangtasia." Sookie's thighs were covered with red blotches that were going to be black bruises in a matter of hours. The only peace I got from seeing her injuries was from knowing she belonged to a Me and she wouldn't be left unhealed for any amount of time.

Sookie's answer was perfectly worded. The boredom in Pam's eyes disappeared instantly… She shouted, "Months!? This has _**ALL**_ been one long set up!?"

"No. The only reason we didn't say anything earlier was because we were sure you wouldn't believe us. Since you're here, do you want to go with us to the airport to get My Eric and His Sookie?"

"So you can make fun of me for standing in the cold and waiting for something that isn't going to happen?"

Sookie shrugged. "Whatever. Suit yourself."

"You don't care if I go or not?"

Sookie shook her head. "Why would I? Just keep this in mind if an Eric walks into Fangtasia when he's already in his seat on the stage or in his office."

"You aren't fucking with me!"

I couldn't help myself… I blurted, "Why the fuck do you believe her over me?"

"Because of your mood. _You didn't believe yourself_ when you explained… but you aren't having any fun with this. You're… you're…"

"Not full of shit?"

She nodded. "That's one way to put it."

Sookie's clothing was washed and dried in plenty of time for us to leave for the airport. She filled her idle time by sharing anecdotal information about other versions, but as the evening pressed on, our respective matches closed the distance…

Saying we were anxious would have been an understatement… We left for the airfield much earlier than we needed to, but Pam was the only one to mention the timing.

As Sookie paced the tarmac next to my car, I was practically overwhelmed by panic… Something was scaring My Sookie enough that I could have sworn I felt her trembling…

The fear had been enough, but when her mood became a sudden nothing, the only thing to stop me from meeting the plane while it was still making its final approach was that the Sookie with me could explain…As it turned out, My Sookie's fear was most likely caused by the pilot's announcement about the pending landing and the nothingness was the result of a telepathic trick… My Sookie was using Eric's quiet mind as a shelter.

Small planes and large, Sookie was afraid to fly and landings caused more fear than any other part of the flight… Sookie joked that the only way she could enjoy a carefree flight was on 'Air Eric'. She trusted him more than machinery.

As the plane finally touched down, Sookie asked, "Do you think you can handle hanging back for a minute?"

Pam didn't give me the chance to answer. She snorted, "He might last 30 seconds, but only if we tie him down with silver-"

I had to put my hand over her mouth so I could speak for myself. "What do you have in mind?"

Sookie shrugged and tried to keep from laughing at Pam. "Proving a point."

"What kind of point?"

"The kind of point that puts things into perspective for Sookie… It won't take a minute."

I growled, agreeing with a nod… if for no better reason than not wanting to seem too eager to see My Sookie again.

Pam mumbled into my hand, "You can let me go now."

"No. This is good."

Sookie took Pam's hand to rescue her from the muzzle. "Pam's with me so she can 'call' you when I'm done."

The small plane had its own steps and Sookie shoved the pilot out of the way as soon as they were lowered.

I wasn't too far away to hear Pam and My Sookie gasp… or the amorous noises caused by Eric and Sookie's reunion.

Only a moment later, My Sookie shrieked, "_**OhmyGod!**_" and then Pam called me…

I could see Sookie wrapped around another Me as I climbed the steps to join everyone in the cabin. I had to duck to step inside, and before my back was straight again, My Sookie had her arms around my sides as though her life depended on it.

I wasn't opposed to the greeting, just surprised by it.

The other Me mumbled to his Sookie that she'd been 'cruel', so Pam explained, "Sookie asked where you were. All the other one said was 'taking care of the Witch problem didn't go according to plans'."

That sneaky, double-talking bitch implied something regrettable happened to me… and it caused My Sookie to cling to me like a life raft. Beautiful.

The other Sookie finally took her face away from Eric's neck to say, "And I dare her to claim she doesn't care about you. She had no reaction to hearing Compton is dead, but she almost swooned at the idea of you being hurt."

My Sookie sniped from against my chest, "That was a bitch-move. Your husband already turned the past few hours into an Eric-Infomercial!"

_Interested in making a purchase?_

The other Sookie giggled, "_Yeah, she is._"

"You heard that?"

"Yup. I told you it doesn't happen often…"

The other me grumbled, "Or reliably… Never Pam and through the various encounters we've had, different Sookies have heard Stan Davis, the Berts, Russell and Andre, but in the version where she heard Andre, he was her Maker."

"Her Maker!?"

He nodded as though it was nothing. "He went rogue as soon as Hadley mentioned her telepathic cousin. His intention was to take her to Sophie-Ann, but she put up such a fight he didn't have a choice… so he said. Regardless, the only time Sookie can read Vampire minds reliably is when I'm her Maker..."

"You?"

"Even then, it's only between the two of us… We should go. The air is much colder here and I'm not sure Pinkus can tolerate the sudden change."

The other Sookie was still attached to him at his waist. She tilted her head to the side to ask, "Pinkus?"

He nodded, "We'll have to hope Hunter wants to change his name… As it turns out, the Bahamas has its own species of endangered iguanas. Pinkus won't grow to be nearly as large as Monte Carlo…"

His wife giggled again, "If he goes back from a skip with us, Gran won't care if it's a T-Rex… and Hunter will be excited just because it's nearly extinct."

He raised an eyebrow in My Sookie's direction. She scoffed as she let go of me to grab her bags and start for the steps…

During the short drive back to the house, the other Sookie sat in the back seat with her husband, jokingly teasing him for going to the Bahamas without her. He very seriously told her, given what My Sookie's scent had been like when he rose, he'd found where they were going to be taking their new boat in May… and then explained his inspiration for buying it…

Since Pam had taken her own car, she was already waiting in my driveway, impatient to take part in as much of the skip as she could.

The other Sookie made a beeline downstairs to get my laptop while Mine took in her surroundings. There wasn't any way to be sure of what specifically surprised her about my house without asking and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer…

Unfortunately, Pam asked.

Sookie shrugged, "It's just nothing like Fangtasia… I never really spent any time thinking about it, you know, what his house is like… this is pretty." 'Pretty' was better than anything else I could imagine… hearing it compared to Compton's antebellum shack would have been just as insulting as a fiction based preconception.

The other Sookie snuck up on her to say, "Ours is prettier. Gran keeps a tablecloth on the table and her pretty pink Kitchen Aid appliances really brighten up the kitchen." _With my black marble?_ Their Pam must have had a little party.

"Gran lives here?"

She nodded. "And in Bon Temps. We split our time between the houses when we're in the Area at all… Wait 'til you see the study. I swear, sometimes it's hard to get Gran to leave long enough to run to the grocery store. It usually takes getting Alcide to ask for something we don't have in the house for dinner…" She held my laptop out for me. As I took it from her, she smirked and wiggled her eyebrows. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to borrow your room for a bit."

"Do you consider a threesome cheating?"

While My Sookie glowered, the other one knew I was joking enough to throw her head back and cackle.

When she was done with her laugh she came over to give me a hug, kissing my cheek and reminding me of '_what we talked about_'… and while she said goodbye to Pam, Eric put a memory card in my hand…

The two of them wasted no time going downstairs and she called back to Sookie to say there was a sandwich in the refrigerator for My Sookie and she'd leave her clothes by the bed for her.

The door to my room was barely closed before Pam whined, "_Now I have to wait for __**them**__ to get done fucking too?_"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Sookie and I weren't fucking earlier. That _**was**_ a joke…"

"I still have to wait for them to fuck…"

"No, you don't. They're going home."

"How!?"

"They don't know how it happens. The confusion resets itself once they go to bed together. Sookie compared it to watching a candle's flame being snuffed out. They've tried to have it witnessed by another pair of them, but it can only be witnessed telepathically."

She stared at me with her mouth open for a moment before huffing, "Fuck this. Nothing exciting ever happens when I'm around. I always have to hear about it later. I'm going home…"

Sookie watched her leave and stared at the door to the garage until she heard Pam's tires squeal as she drove away…

She actually giggled.

"Don't be so amused. She thinks she's doing me a favor by leaving us alone." Or she was leaving on her own terms rather than waiting for me to ask.

She shrugged and pointed to the refrigerator. "Do you mind? I didn't realize I was hungry until Sookie said 'sandwich'."

I shook my head and watched her take the little Styrofoam box and bottle of tea to the other side of the counter. "Did you not eat anything since you woke?"

"Some… I got upset and didn't finish."

"He upset you?"

"Not him… hearing how every gripe I have has sprung from choices I made… I was kicking myself."

"It can't be undone, unfortunately… Sookie told me in nearly every version they've met, Compton was all but an angel of death to someone in your life. I understand Adele would remind you that you still have your brothers, yes?"

She nodded. "Just one brother, but yeah, _she would_ say something right up that alley." Fuck. Of all the things for the other Me to not explain…

"Your mother and father were estranged for a while…"

She tilted her head to the side with a curious look on her face. "Yeah. _That's no secret_. I'm what happened when they got back together."

"Brandon is what happened while they were apart."

Nearly everything about her stopped. She stared at me with a mouthful… perhaps waiting for a punchline she wouldn't get…

"I can look him up for you. According to Sookie he lives here in Shreveport with his daughter… they're both telepathic. It's funny when you think about it. He works for Herveaux & Son. He took the job because Weres were more difficult for him to read."

I took my laptop to sit next to her, beginning the search for Brandon since Sookie seemed to need time to process the idea of having another brother.

She gasped when I typed 'Russo' into the last name field of the public records search. "What?"

"I… You spelled it wrong… U."

"You know him already?"

She shook her head. "No… Gran had me take her to a funeral a couple of years ago. The woman's name was Julie _Rousseau_ and I overheard Gran thinking that she was one of Daddy's old flames."

"If we're assuming it was his mother who passed, he'll probably be excited to find that he has more family…"

"Or I should let sleeping dogs lie. Everyone I know gets hurt."

"You should be more focused on the fact that _**you**_ continually get injured… 'You' didn't even escape tonight without bruises."

"How did that go? With the witches?"

"They're dead…"

She gasped again, covering her mouth. "_OhmyGod!Holly?_"

"No. Not your friend. The two she was frightened of. Marnie and Mark Stonebrook. Their intentions were to capture me using some type of spell and feed from me to make themselves stronger. After seeing you hold a woman over your head and choke a Were until he passed out, I can't imagine how much damage Marnie could have done if you hadn't had the luck of running into Holly when you did."

"Sookie is that strong?"

I nodded. "Their Pam calls her 'Vamp-lite'. It seems the only thing she hasn't already adopted is the ability to fly." As soon as I spoke, I wished I could unsay everything… The other Sookie was excited for Hunter to mature so she could be turned, but that didn't mean My Sookie wouldn't overreact to the idea. _Changing the subject…_ "Did Eric mention that Sookie had been taught a few magical basics?"

She nodded, either unfazed or successfully diverted and I was too relieved to care which. "Yeah. She warded him out of their room."

"What?"

She blushed and looked away. "I'm _so_ not going into those details… Why do you ask?"

"You first. Why did she ward him out of their room?"

"To tease him. That's all you're getting. Your turn." Tease? After spending the evening with her, I couldn't help but picture a hundred ways she could torment him while he could look, but not touch… I almost forgot what I was about to say, but by the time I pushed my imagination to the side, Sookie's face was bright red.

"Would you accept lessons? I was already considering having your property warded against ill-will, but…"

She narrowed her eyes. "Were you going to mention it to me first?"

"No. It would have sparked an unnecessary debate and the ward only would have interfered with the comings and goings of those who would harm you."

"I would have known right away."

"I doubt it… unless your senses are heightened enough to smell magic."

"Do you think Bill would've stayed quiet about not being able to get to me?" That prick would have charged into my office, knowing I'd had the ward cast… but not that the ward was only to keep her safe. He would have exposed himself… I should have had her property warded as soon as we returned from Dallas when I thought of it.

"Fair enough. Lessons? I know a Witch who would…"

"Can I have Holly teach me some things?"

"Holly is just a Human who practices…"

"I would be too though."

"Alright. Have Holly teach you what she can."

She studied my face for a moment with her head tilted to the side. "What?"

"Nothing. You're welcome to stay here for the day, but Sookie left your car at Fangtasia. You can take my car if you aren't comfortable stay-"

She waved her hand as she interrupted, "I'll stay here for the day. I'm too tired to drive all that way and I'm dying to know what's on the disk. I don't have my own computer… _Eric, say what you were thinking_."

Lovely… "Holly doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground in a Supernatural sense. She didn't recognize two of Marnie's minions had stolen their names from the Salem Witch Trials… she thought ghosts could possess Humans… and she assumed Weres could be made Human by killing the Were who bit them. Paulette is a very powerful natural Witch… She's the only one I would trust as your tutor because she's done a remarkable job with the other Sookie's education and I've been told that she can be trusted with your telepathy."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because I don't want to argue with you." It was too close to dawn for it to end well.

"Why did you agree to me seeing Holly about it then?"

"Because you'd never know if I still had Paulette ward your property in addition to what your friend taught you."

She huffed, "_Shit… Eric… You've got to stop that…_"

"You asked, Sookie. You shouldn't ask questions if you don't want to hear the answer…"

"_Hold on…_ I've been a bitch to you. _I'm sorry_. I was up to my chin in lies because I don't know better and I can't read your mind… I meant that you've got to stop clamming up. I need to hear your reasons. Truth be told, I'd feel more comfortable having Holly teach me because I've never met Paulette. I don't know the difference so I need someone to tell me."

"Alright."

"_Alright?_"

I nodded. "I've already come to the conclusion you've been sheltered on a criminal level. I'm just as guilty as Compton in that aspect…"

"No you're not… You know damn well I wouldn't have listened because I was hopelessly convinced Bill was 'the good guy'. Everyone said he was an asshole, but when _**you**_ didn't tell me why, I assume it's because you're trying to get me in bed… And since Jason's public displays of intelligence are limited to football and cup size, I assume _**he's**_ being an overprotective big brother because I don't have any way to gauge that either. Everyone else I know is just terrified of Vampires in general. And none of that matters any-damn-way because the only person I really would've listened to…"She finally paused to breathe, shuddering as her eyes welled. "... didn't live long enough to see a bigger picture… and believe me, if Gran got any hints he was up to something, she would've uninvited him in a heartbeat. You and Bill couldn't be more different, but…"

"How were you supposed to know why?"

She nodded to agree, but stopped to sniffle and give me a puzzled look. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No. I'm just letting you know you don't have to explain. I'd been blaming your naïveté for your attachment to Compton already, but it wasn't until tonight that I was clued in to how your gift was clouding your judgment."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew you couldn't hear our thoughts, nothing more. I didn't know you could sense deceit or read our moods. Given the new information, I can understand why you'd be confused."

"_You ARE making fun of me!_" How the fuck did she come to the conclusion that I was teasing her from that?

"When have I ever made fun of you? Stop that. It's not fair that you assume the worst of me."

"Fair? You want to talk about fair…" Here we go… She'd been pleasant for long enough, it seemed. Her inner bitch wanted a turn.

I interrupted, "Once I met the other Sookie I had fun tonight. I spent the evening with a Sookie who talked to me instead of questioning everything I said. She laughed when I made a joke instead of cynically looking for a hidden meaning. She didn't assume I had a clandestine agenda because she knew better. The only difference between the two of Us is he had the benefit of making a better first impression on you because Bill Compton wasn't present. I haven't done a single fucking thing to hurt you intentionally, yet you seem to be under the impression I'm out to get you."

She was quiet for a moment, studying the countertop before nodding and saying, "You're right. I'm sorry."

I stared at her while I searched my memory, trying to recollect if I'd ever heard of a substance that caused Vampires to hallucinate. I finally managed to ask, "What are you apologizing for in particular?"

She shrugged and huffed, "Everything. I don't even know where the hell to start. After all the stuff Eric told me tonight, I feel like a complete idiot. I pigeonholed myself. I bought it all, hook, line and sinker. _'You didn't want me. You wanted control over my ability.'_ I thought you were just working me like an investment. I've been suspicious of you and your behavior from the night I met you and even if it was justifiable because all I had to go on was what I was told by the only person who knew you, I didn't have to be such a shithead about it." I wished Pam had stayed. At least then I'd have a witness.

I was at a loss. How the fuck did one evening make such a huge difference? "He won't be causing that problem any longer."

She growled, "I know… _How do I get that mess out of a lawn?_" Excuse me? I'd half expected her to want to hold services for him.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're going to have to douse it with kerosene and burn it. If you try to wash it away with a hose it'll just kill a larger area."

"If that's the case, I could just leave it. As full of crap as Bill was, he might make decent fertilizer."

"Why would you think he'd be that useful?"

She snickered and mumbled that she was going to hell for making jokes about someone who just died before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Since there was less than an hour before dawn by the time she was finished eating, I carried her suitcase as I gave a brief tour that ended in one of the unused bedrooms upstairs… and before I left her, she gave me a grateful hug and peck on the cheek.

As I made my way down to my room, I tried to figure out what the fuck the other Me had done to get through to her.

Seeing the neat little stack of folded clothing on the corner of my bed inspired a different manner of musing completely. Mine or not, a Sookie had been in my bed.

That was enough to give me 'sweet dreams'.

I emailed Paulette about a permanent position as my assistant and Sookie's tutor and settled into bed with a few minutes to spare and just in time to feel Sookie getting closer.

She knocked on the door to my room lightly and cracked the door to ask, "Mind if I come in?"

"Something on your mind?"

She stepped in wearing her pajamas and stopped just inside the door. She fidgeted for a moment before she folded her arms to stop. "I wanted to say something and I kind of want to get it out there before I… well, I… I tend to over think things."

"Alright."

She huffed, "K… Here goes… When Long Shadow came after me, I got out of Dodge as quick as I could… too fast to thank you for saving my life. When Rene came after me, it was weird to see you floating outside my hospital window. Thank you for checking on me. When the Maenad got to me, I was in pain and scared of dying… Thank you for making arrangements for my treatment. Thank you for following me to Dallas. Thank you for tending to my injuries. Thank you for keeping me company at Stan's nest. Thank you for taking me to the orgy. Thank you for sending Bubba to look after me. Thank you for hiring Alcide to escort me to Jackson. Thank you for following me there too. Thank you for looking after me. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for helping me save someone you hate and I should've hated. Thank you for pulling me out of the trunk. Thank you for taking me home. Thank you for killing those Weres who came after me. Thank you for coming back to check on me then. Thank you for being nice to my brother when Bill brought him to Fangtasia tonight. Thank you for missing me in spite of how I treated you. Thank you for caring enough to throw Bill out of your Area in my defense. Thank you for not giving up on me completely… I'm sure I missed a few, but they'll come to me… And I'm still working on a list of apologies."

All I could do was stare and be grateful I couldn't _actually_ choke on my tongue. As difficult as it was to get it to cooperate with speaking, I might as well have been.

She grinned at me and shook her head. "You don't have to say anything. I just didn't want to forget any of that."

I nodded instead of asking for proof she was My Sookie.

She snickered and walked towards me, making herself at home in my bed and scooting over to lay her head on my shoulder and drape her arm over my stomach.

"What are you doing?"

She tilted her head to look up at me. "Snuggling." She was smirking, teasing me for having done the same thing to her.

I deadpanned, "I feel violated."

She giggled, "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know. Would you like to test me?"

She laughed through her nose, biting her lip hard enough I could feel it. "You know better than that. _I'm not __**that**__ easy._"

"Yes, you are. I heard that you've already been in bed with another Vampire tonight."

She rolled away from me and buried her face in the pillow and groaned.

Of course I followed her. "In case you're confused, this is 'making fun', Sookie."

She grumbled into the pillow. "I should've known I wasn't going to live that down!"

I chuckled against the back of her shoulder and watched goosebumps spread over her arm. "I have to ask… are you on a list of some kind? Do you wake up with Vampires between your legs often?"

She flopped her head to the side and whined, "_Often enough_. Is my number printed under the caps of True Blood?"

I teased, "_As a matter of fact…_"

She giggled and twisted around to face me, resting her hands on my arms. She didn't seem to care that I was half on top of her. "Great… I oughta look into-"

We were both distracted by a sudden shuffling on the other side of my room. We exchanged puzzled looks before she seemed to realize what it was.

Sookie slid out of the bed and wandered over carefully and crouched down next to my desk… When she stood again, she was holding a pink and orange faced iguana. "Poor thing… I guess iguanas don't skip."

"What the fuck am I going to do with that?"

She grinned and soothed the lizard by rubbing the top of its head with her finger. "Poor Hunter's gonna have to wait until May to get his own. At least Eric already knows how to get one… I'll keep him if you don't want him. The care instructions for him seemed easy enough. Like having a cat again… _Ooooooh,_ except I won't have to worry about Bubba wanting this little guy for a snack."

"You want an iguana?"

"I wouldn't ask Santa for one, but _this guy_ needs a home… I'm going to put him in your laundry room so he doesn't make a mess of your carpet. I'll be right back."

I watched Sookie walk out with him and listened to her promise to go shopping for him tomorrow on her way up the stairs. It wasn't any fucking wonder how Compton managed to garner her attention. All he had to do was be ugly and defenseless.

When she returned she used the sink in my bathroom to wash her hands and then slid back into bed next to me.

She caught me staring again and asked, "What?"

"You should keep Pinky…"

"Pinkus."

"You should keep Pinkus a secret so you don't wake to find Merlotte in disguise."

"Oh my God! _Who told you about that!?_" Unfuckingbelievable.

"Tell me you're joking."

"No… _**You**__ were just joking?_"

"Yes. Was he disguised as your cat?"

"No. A dog. It wasn't creepy, just a poorly executed plan to keep an eye on me. I flipped my everlovin' lid though. I took home a friendly stray because I was spooked and too proud to ask someone to stay with me and woke up with my naked boss curled up at the foot of the bed."

I was staring again, but this time was because I was concentrating on not laughing.

She narrowed her eyes and groaned, _"Go ahead."_

"What?"

"Don't tell me you haven't got a joke on deck. _C'mon…. Ummmm…_ How 'bout, 'Great. Now we need to check for your number inside Alpo bags too'."

I snorted and shook my head, refusing to play along. She was doing my work for me and I didn't have to risk crossing any lines she had when it came to her friends.

"Nothing about whether we ate breakfast together or if I put a bowl on the floor?"

I chuckled, but I only shook my head.

"You don't want to know if he had coffee or drank out of the birdbath or anything?" That mental image was my tipping point.

"Sookie! You watched him use the yard!? How rude!"

She cackled so violently I wasn't sure if she noticed I was laughing with her. I hadn't even had this much fun with the other Sookie.

When she finally got her breathing under control, she reached up and ran her thumb over my eyebrow. She was still smiling and practically cooed, "I like it like this. It's like it could light up the room." I was actually surprised that she'd show her cards so quickly. She'd always been so vague in describing her ability.

"It can't always be like this though."

She nodded and lowered her hand to rest it on my chest. "I know, but I don't have to like how dark _**I've**_ made it… I'm about to lose you, aren't I?"

"No… Why would you say…" It took a moment for it to catch up to me. She hadn't been suggesting that I wasn't interested in her if I didn't have to chase her… somehow she'd sensed that dawn's pull was beginning before I had. "How?"

"In short, your mind's like a fog… It's getting tighter, more dense. Do you want me to go?"

"No."

"Are you sure? I understand if…"

"Stay here… Will you still be here when I rise or will I need to look for you again?"

She grinned apologetically and shifted so she could reach to kiss me. "I can't think of a reason why I'd be any further than your study."

I had to struggle to say, "Good." Given that it sounded more like a primitive grunt, I doubt she grasped how much I meant it… or that it was _an open invitation_.

She hummed as she settled back into position. "That's sweet… you're welcome at my house too."

I was barely holding on, only conscious of my surroundings, but miserably unable to respond. Not that I'd formulated more than 'thank you', but I didn't want her to think her invitation wasn't appreciated.

She rubbed her hand over my chest and whispered, "Calm down… we can talk later. G'nite."

She let a long yawn and the heat of her breath was the last thing I felt before I was pulled under.


End file.
